Why can’t we just hang regular road intersection lights at railroad crossings?
If you are following what I, and others, have said, they don’t work, they are not enough, they are not effective. Even what is designed explicitly for railroad crossings doesn’t work when a driver decides to ignore it for whatever reason. Ideally, probably, a ten foot thick concrete and iron wall should fall across the roadway on both sides of a railraod crossing but that is both impractical and very costly. Driver education, laws, lights, gates, don’t work 100% of the time!
…henry6:
Not sure what you want the authorities to do beyond what is normally done. We all agree that crossing gates along with the typical RR warning red lights will be recognized by most drivers that they cannot proceed until the oncoming train is past. They stop and wait. But, and we all see some drivers that violate the law by bypassing the gates, etc…Some drivers will not stop for almost any warning device if they think they can “beat” the oncoming train…
Just in the past year and back in my home area of Pennsylvania at a CSX {branch} RR crossing {which is located at a slight dip in the terrain…but the highway is straight…a large coal truck was decending one side approaching the RR crossing and he decided he’d continue on in order to get a run at the hill on the other side of the crossing…There were 12 warning RR crossing lights flashing and he still decided to “beat the train”…and smashed into it after he did apply the brakes too late…He survived…Somehow.
Note: 2 warning lights on each side of the road…and a signal structure up above that extends across the highway and contains the remaining 8 flashing red warning lights.
Guess there is really no way to stop some drivers…no matter what is set up at the crossing.
I was replying to Naniamo who suggested just a regular traffic signal at a crossing. But beyond that, yeah, I think there are things that haven’t been done yet by authorities or railroads. New technology like I suggest: Four posts about 10 feet high, at each corner of the crossing, which would send lazer beams across the road to each other making a 10 foot high curtain or wall of red light for instance. It could even flash if you want. But it would engulf the whole width of the crossing giving one pause for sure…even if you know it is only light, would you try to drive thorugh it? And the poles could also give a lunar white or green light to trains to indicate crossing guard protection is working. And I am sure there are other 21st Century miracles sitting on engineering drawing boards and in some genius minds.
How about a crossing guard with an RPG?
We have gates, horn blowing, and traffic lights which turn red in the direction of the crossing on approach complete with a warning beacon on top. And yes, people still get hit. If someone is gonna be an idiot and drive around then it doesn’t matter how many warnings there are.
Anybody remember a few years back that Trains did an article on a unique crossing, on the IC I believe, with a cantilever structure, a warning siren, and the words DEATH and an arrow pointing in the direction of the approaching train? I actually thought about modelling that thing! Maybe we need to go that extreme in other places til people get the hint…[sigh]
I hope this isn’t silly, but do police give tickets if you cross in front of a train. If the grade crossing doesn’t have gates, even I am tempted to cross over if a slow train is coming. I wouldn’t if it was a trafic light. Our city now has installed red light cameras. I wonder if they would work at bad crossings.
If you are lucky enough to live.
The horn rule is a touchy subject w/ the carriers & FRA. Both do opt testing on this rule all the time. What they are looking for is if a train is 45 mph or greater, start sounding @ the whistle post which now is 1/4 mile from the crossing. The rule of thumb is five seconds for each long, three for each short. It takes common sense jugdement from a train crew on just when to start tooting. If a train is traveling 10 mph, you’re not going to start tooting at the whistle board, but some crews have done this and got busted for sounding for too long which if its in a residental area at night, I can’t blame the testing officer for giving that crew a opt test failure
They do make barrier gates. They are 2-3 feet high, and lock in on the non-hinged side. In testing, a 45 mph pickup truck was stopped dead in its tracks by the gate. The gates are very spendy, and require more maintenance than regular gates. They usually include a housing nearby with a spare gate assembly.
…I would believe the authorities have the responsibility to engineer and install the proper warning gates…lights, etc., at railroad crossings appropriate for each location, and then to have said warning devices properly maintained. After that…it’s up to the driver to take his / her responsibility to stop when said warning devices indicate a train is approaching…That’s it. There has to be a limit how much resourses and energy are put in to oversee each drivers well being over and above the above listed devices.
In Canada 45mph or over you start at the W board (1/4 mile away) and anything less than that you gotta time yourself so that the time you start until the time you hit the edge of the crossing is 20 seconds of time and then continue blowing through.
The 20 second rule in Canada I don’t think means the horn has to be sounded for a total of 20 seconds … like the FRA makes it in the USA.
I agree. Put up gates and flashers, then hand out Darwin Awards. The only part that saddens me is the train crew and the ones along for the ride who didn’t or wouldn’t have made that poor choice to try to beat a train.
someone asked if folks stop at traffic lights – the regular ones. Not around here, anyway; I can guarantee that two or three cars will blast through the intersection after the light has turned red, any time, any intersection. We do not have red light cameras, and this being a very blue state it is unlikely we will ever get them (infringe on the ‘rights’ and ‘privacy’ of the drivers). The state DOT has ‘fixed’ the problem in that most newer lights have a dead time of 3 to 4 seconds, which is red in all directions. Doesn’t help intersection capacity any, but does cut down some on the number of broadside crashes.
Enforcement of stop, look and listen or stop when the lights or barriers are down would help. However, a)there are nowhere near enough cops to do it and b) I would be willing to bet that most judges would just throw the charges out, or slap a minimal fine on (if any) – if the behaviour of the courts with regard to such minor things as DUI or red light violations is any guide.
Many auto drivers have the impression that if a crossing gate is down with flashing red lights, one can go around them if they so choose because they are not running a ‘red light’. Wrong. Gates are equipped w/ 3 lights–the 2 inside lights flash but the light on the end is a solid red. That is a signal to stop and stay stopped until the gates go up. The solid red on the end of the gate means just that and going around a gate is the same as running a stop sign or stop light. A police officer friend of mine has given out gobs of tickets on this issue and when he tells drivers about the solid red on the gate, hmm…