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A united effort by state and federal agencies to save more lives.

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Goal 14 - Reducing Vehicle-Train Crashes
Each year, hundreds of fatalities are sustained at the nation’s ubiquitous highway-rail grade crossings. Many are the result of drivers deliberately circumventing or otherwise purposely violating active control devices. In other cases drivers are unsure of their responsibilities because warning devices, both active and passive, are perceived by motorists as ambiguous. There also exists a general lack of public awareness about highway-rail crossings that may be traced in part to ineffectual licensing and driver education efforts. While these strategies concentrate on railroad highway crossing initiatives, they may be expanded as appropriate to similar light-rail transit crossing concerns.

Recommended Strategies:

• Strategy 14A: Finalize deployment of and deploy passive warning devices
• Strategy 14B: Establish national guidelines for highway-rail grade crossing
• Strategy 14C: Improve driver training and licensing relative to safe practices for approaching and traversing highway-rail crossings
• Strategy 14D: Adopt advanced technology for enforcement and crash prevention at RR crossings to minimize motorist violation of RR warning devices

  A significant number of crashes occur at RR crossings where motorists knowingly violate an active railroad traffic control device. This initiative will identify the most promising candidate systems to impact this problem, field test and evaluate those systems, and define the most effective, cost-efficient system. In addition, model State legislation will also be prepared, if necessary, to implement the system.

  Related Publications:
  

  -- Enhanced Traffic Control Devices for Highway-Railroad Crossings
  -- Railroad/Highway Crossing Safety
  -- Enhanced Traffic Control Devices and Railroad Operations for Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings: Summary Report
  -- Railroad Horn Systems Research
  -- Enhanced Traffic Control Devices and Railroad Operations for Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings: First-Year Activities
  -- Prior Driver Performance and Expressed Attitudes Towards Risk as Factors Associated with Railroad Grade Crossing Violations
  -- South Carolina Installs Active Warning Devices at Railroad Crossings
  -- Sealed Corridor Program
  -- Violations at Gated Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings
  -- Supervised Interconnection Circuits at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
  -- Where the road meets the rail
  -- Highway-Rail Crossing Elimination and Consolidation
  -- Advance Warning for Railroad Delays (AWARD)
  -- Advanced Prediction of Train Arrival and Crossing Times at Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing
  -- Automated-Horn Warning System for Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings: Evaluation at Three Crossings in Ames, Iowa
  

• Strategy 14E: Implement the findings and recommendations of the USDOT Grade Crossing Safety Report