Stopping at railroad crossings

[Michie]

Do you stop at railroad crossings, the ones with just lights, no arms, to check for trains

I have to go across a railroadcrossing several times a day, that does not have the safety arms. I always stop and look. I dont know what the chances of the lights malfunctioning are, but the people behind me always

 

[Twinkles6892]

I don't drive, but we have tons of railroad tracks around here. We never stop, mostly because you can see the track as it runs parallel to the side of the road, so you know where they are. But I think it's law that busses and large trucks have to stop before they cross the tracks.

 

[NMAmy]

I never bothered until about a year or so ago when a mother and her teenage daughter were killed by a train when the lights malfunctioned--that crossing even had the arms that come down, none of which were working.

Now I slow down down and look.

 

[Aimee K]

I slow down and look. I should probably stop. My dd's questioned me the other day when we drove over the tracks because their bus stops and opens the door and looks before proceeding.

 

[Michie]

I never bothered until about a year or so ago when a mother and her teenage daughter were killed by a train when the lights malfunctioned--that crossing even had the arms that come down, none of which were working.

Now I slow down down and look.

I know we have some RR widows on the board. Maybe they could give some insight on how often the safety equipment malfunctions

 

[Miss Jasmine]

All our RR crossings here are lighted and gated. I still usually slow down and look. I don't trust everything to be working.

 

[NMAmy]

I know we have some RR widows on the board. Maybe they could give some insight on how often the safety equipment malfunctions

I've cut and pasted the article here--it was a while ago so it took awhile to find it but it's such a sad story that it really stuck with me.

Train Gates Malfunction

Kirk Yuhnke, Fox 47 News
June 2, 2004

A mother and daughter died in a train accident, because the gates malfunctioned. On April 27th, 45 year old Melanie Pouch and her 15 year old daughter Meghann died in the crash at the train crossing on Lawrence Road just west of downtown Charlotte.
In total, train accidents in which the signals fail make up only 2% of the total number of accidents. In contrast, 40% of train accidents are caused by human error. The remaining 58% happen because of equipment problems, track defects, and other miscellaneous factors.
We wanted to find out more for you about how these crossings work and what kind of steps are taken to keep them safe. M-DOT and the railroad companies themselves inspect these crossings. Each crossing gets inspected every two years. The crossing in charlotte was just about to come up for another inspection when this accident happened.
Along the side of the road, silent reminders of what happened at this railroad crossing. Two people are dead. Now police are blaming the railroad gates. It's a surprise for those who work right next to the crossing.
“In all the time that I've worked here, I've never seen an accident,” said Deb Holmgren.
To find out exactly how they work, we went to the president of the Michigan Railroads Association, Robert Chaprnka. He's not involved in this investigation, but knows how these crossings work.
“As the train comes through, there is an electrical circuit that is connected and it activates the lights and gates, they will then come down,” said Chaprnka.
He says they're simple. And a backup plan is built in.
“If there is something wrong with the circuitry, the lights and gates will trigger automatically, even if a train is not coming,” said Chaprnka.
He doesn't question for a second the danger of a railroad crossing.
“When you are crossing the tracks you are 30 more times likely to be seriously likely to be injured or die if you are involved in a crash at a highway intersection,” said Chaprnka.
In Charlotte, it's a reminder that hits home. One that some say not everyone is getting.
“People are still trying to beat the train. Today, I seen a couple of cars go under the gates,” said Holmgren.

 

[liamsaunt]

I always look, because I have had not one, but two incidents where I drove across the tracks only to find a train bearing down! The first was some years ago at a crossing near my house at the time. I should have known better, as the lights at that crossing always malfunctioned--I think kids used to vandalize them. I just gunned the gas and got across OK. If I had hesitated my car would have been crunched for sure.

The second incident occured right after I moved into my new neighborhood. The crossing here was on a straight street, but the train track came around a sharp curve right before crossing the road, so you really can't see the train at all before it starts across the road. When I crossed, the train was only about 30 feet from my car! Thankfully it was just one of those really slow moving freight carriers, so I was able to cross fine.

Since I was new to the neighborhood I stopped my car after getting across the tracks and checked to see if I had somehow not noticed the flashing train lights, but I was right--they were not working. Now I always peer around the corner of that train track before proceeding.

 

[piglet too]

All of the crossings in use around me have arms, but I still slow down a bit and look and listen. Out by my in-laws there are many crossing with just lights, and out there it depends on the season what we do. During the winter, we can see a long stretch of track, so we just slow down. During the summer months, the corn (and other crops) block the view so we have to stop.

Our commuter train company's motto is "Look, Listen and, Live"

 

[kbkids]

I know we have some RR widows on the board. Maybe they could give some insight on how often the safety equipment malfunctions

Here's one!! Two more on here somewhere!

I don't know how often it malfunctions, but it only takes once. Please don't risk it!! It's 5 seconds out of your life. Just stop (or at the very least, slow down) and double check. You're not going to win in a fight with a locomotive! And not only will it affect your family but also the railroad employees. I can tell you some stories about what these guys go through when a fatality happens!

 

[kbkids]

And on another note. Please don't try to beat one when you do see it coming. You just never know when your car might malfunction, have a flat tire, etc. I detest waiting on a train as much as the rest of you, even though it does put the food on our table and clothes on our backs, but again, it's just not worth the risk. A good friend of DH's hit a car because of this exact thing. The last thing he saw was the two kids in the back seat screaming!

 

[Rajah]

Most of the time, I just slow down and look even if there are safety gates and lights. But if the RR crossing is a "blind" one (one where you can't see far, I may come to a complete stop as well.

 

[cardaway]

If we had bullet trains around here it might be more of a concern. As it stands, the crossings I cross \are not "blind" ones so I can see if a train is anywhere near.

I will stop if I can't see a good amount fo the tracks on either side.

 

[skooniebird]

Do you stop at railroad crossings, the ones with just lights, no arms, to check for trains

I have to go across a railroadcrossing several times a day, that does not have the safety arms. I always stop and look. I dont know what the chances of the lights malfunctioning are, but the people behind me always

I always look down the tracks on either side as I'm approaching, but in general I don't slow down. Now, if the light is flashing and the train is still way down the tracks, I still stop. It's deceptive how fast they are actually going and I cringe when I see all these people pushing their luck and crossing even when the lights are flashing. I guess I'm a little more cautious because my dad was a truck driver and was hit dead on by a train at a crossing whose lights weren't working. He lived, thanks to the big semi cab, but had to have physical therapy and even some emotional counseling before he could get back out there again.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Do you stop at railroad crossings, the ones with just lights, no arms, to check for trains

I have to go across a railroadcrossing several times a day, that does not have the safety arms. I always stop and look. I dont know what the chances of the lights malfunctioning are, but the people behind me always

We live in an area that has a lot of railroad crossings such as you describe and yes we always slow way, way down if not a complete and total stop. There are so many deaths here because of drivers not stopping.

 

[Katerbug]

We always come to a complete stop at railroad crossings. Especially since DH got a ticket for not coming to a complete stop and had to pay a $135 ticket.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I stop if there is a blind curve to make sure a train is not coming.

If the view is wider--I do slow down to make sure nothing is coming.


ETA:
I must say I don't come to a complete stop b/c a big gigantic train is hard to miss. If I see a train. I stop as I cannot judge speed an distance for anything. Want to make sure the sucker is indeed stop.


I took Amtrak from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale one time. It took forever.

Something malfunctioned on a particular section of track (like the Tampa to Orlando part). We had to stop at EVERY single R/R crossing so that they could manually set the arms down. It was an annoying right and I'm sure everyone was peeved waiting at the crossing (we went really really slow).

we even held up an ambulance who was stuck sitting at the crossing. Had just gotten there and nothing the train could do but turtle along. I hope noone suffered from lack of an ambulance--but at least the powers that be knew the signal triggers were down and had the train play it safe.

 

[makinorlando]

I always slow down... here where I live outside of Orlando, we don't have any RR crossings! It is so funny because where I grew up and lived most of my life in PA - no matter where I went, there was at least one RR crossing.

 

[DVC-Don]

A woman was killed near here last winter at a crossing. This one had lights and gates which had been down due to a train stopped near the crossing. A railroad worker (conductor on the stopped train) walked over the over rode the gates which stopped the lights and raised the gates. The woman drove over the tracks (two sets) and got broadsided by another train. I shut off my radio, lower a window or two and slow down.

 

[AmazingGrace]

When we lived in Ocean Springs, there were lots of crossings. I always came to a complete stop. There was on crossing over in Biloxi that didn't have arms. That one always made me a tad uneasy.