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FRA to inspect rail grade crossings in Rochester following recommendation from Senator
I have seen numerous gates come down when their isn’t a train approaching and then go back up. I trust my eyes and ears. Stop/slow down LOOK and listen. Its not rocket science except for those who think that someone else should look out for them and they not be responsible for their actions.
Sen. ‘Chuck E. (Say) Cheese’ Schumer will do anything for media attention.
And has anybody bored to report these malfunctioning crossings? I bet no.
Bothered not bored… Good one spell check
200 reports? Duh, and FRA still didnt investigate? Sometimes it takes a politician to get sh… done, I mean come on, 200, really and nothing was done.
I tried to report one once, but the railroad, which I won’t identify never answered the phone. I waited over half an hour!
What might appear to one person to be a gate that is just going up and down for no apparent reason could very well have a reason that isn’t seen. I know the speed limit on the track plays in to how the grade crossings are programmed to operate, but also, whether or not there’s a sequence of them, any diverging lines that could have traffic on them, and they could be tied into the signal system…so that if a train in an adjacent block doing switching continually crosses into the block the crossing gates are in and sets them off, only to leave the block and they return to the off position.
re; Richard L Peck, You have already ‘hit the nail’ right on the head ! The only thing politicians can’t take the place of is: common sense (STOP/SLOW DOWN, LOOK, LISTEN and be RESPONSIBLE for one’s actions !!!
Unfortunately, BIG government looking out for us, seems to be more normal these days. Assumptions of numerous reports of malfunctioning gates, being legitimate, is not an excuse to me. Motorists are too easily conditioned to do stupid things. Just drive a few hundred miles on the Interstate to see for yourself. NO EXCUSES, PERIOD !!
What is "The Rochester area " that encompasses the 200 reports of grade signal crossings malfunctioning. Is it every grade crossing in the area or one certain that has failed multiple times and has the railroad or anyone else been notified those 200 times so there is a record.
The gates and lights were working and there was another motorist waiting at the downed gate, but this guy, who was late for work, goes around the stopped car and downed gate and gets nailed by Amtrak. Tell me, who’s at fault???
There was this one, and a day later an almost identical one in Jacksonville, Florida where a driver with two passengers ran the gates and got hit (Again, ironically, by Amtrak).
Schumer seems to pay only lip service to the fact that the gates are set up in a fail-safe mode, where they will function if no train is present, rather than NOT function if a train is approaching. No one seems to remember the days before lights and gate, when the signs at crossings read “Stop, Look and Listen.” It’s still good advice. You wouldn’t drive through an unguarded highway intersection without looking; why do it at a rail crossing?
Maybe the fix on this problem would be to remove the road crossing the tracks? Any thoughts on that?
200 calls in 17 months, so approximately one every two days. Chuck is right on top of this issue, isn’t he?? As some others have said, the onus falls on the car driver to cross tracks safely. Going around a lowered gate is asking for trouble-looks like this guy got it. As with many motor vehicle accidents, driver inattention play a large part. The number of rail/vehicle accidents compared to the number of trains going over crossings is tiny. Only a politician would think this is the railroad’s fault.
Removing a grade-crossing will obviously “fix” the “problem” at that particular location, but eliminating all of them is not practical or affordable. Over the past years in our area of central New York, on the CSX main-line across the state, numerous grade-crossings have been eliminated, but it takes time and lots of money to do so.
Sure, most of us would go around a gate if no train was in sight after a reasonable period of time. Bypassing the gate however does not mean that the action should be done hastily. Like the previous reader stated, stop, look and listen still applies here and a little more of that would solve the problem.