Rail-Highway
Grade Crossing Safety
Current Situation | National
Perspective | Solutions | Benefits
Current Situation
- Deaths and injuries at rail crossings are a major safety concern: 500 deaths, 2,500 injuries, 7,000 crashes annually.
- Vehicle/train collisions are more severe than other highway crashes; a driver is 30 times more likely to be killed in a rail crossing collision.
- There are 166,000 public and 106,000 private at-grade rail-highway crossings in the U.S. It is estimated that approximately 70% of passive crossings are marked with crossbucks which may not be operating at their full reflective capacity.
National Perspective
- The 1994 Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan focuses on closing crossings, corridor improvements, and upgrading reflective material on rail crossing signs.
- In 1995, the US DOT Secretary formed the Grade Crossing Safety Task Force to build on the action plan, evaluate the accident situation, and recommend safety improvements.
- The 1996 Task Force Report recommended upgrading reflective material on signs to longer-lasting, higher quality reflective material and applying it on front and back of crossbucks and support posts.
Solutions
- The MUTCD, Part VIII, mandates reflectorized crossbuck signs and advance warning signs at all passive rail-highway grade crossings.
- In January, 1997, FHWA announced the following added recommendations for added visibility and impact for approaching drivers:
- reflective material on back of crossbucks
- strips of highly reflective material on front and back of crossbuck sign posts
- reflective material on back of signs and posts appears to the driver like blinking lights when a train is crossing the roadway.
- The MUTCD also mandates reflective pavement markings - an X, the letters RR, a "no passing" marking on two-lane roads, and transverse lines before and after the symbol.
Benefits
- Signs and markings are low-cost safety improvements with a high benefit-to-cost ratio in terms of crash prevention.
- High visibility signs and markings offer drivers more time to react to the presence of trains and obey traffic warning devices.
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