SAFETY FACTS ABOUT CROSSING TRACKS

[Music] to the average motorist a railroad crossing is an occasional annoyance where he sometimes has to sit for a short time watching the boxcars roll by impatient to be on his way but to the engineer the man with his hand on the throttle in the passing freight crossings are a source of constant anxiety every time he takes the train out he can expect one or two near-misses close calls for someone who drives across the tracks when he shouldn't and sometimes just barely gets away with it it's no wonder that the typical engineer is so often pictured as the serious fatherly type he sometimes prays a little when he sees a school bus approaching wondering if the driver is going to stop with all those children it's the law but it's surprising how often school bus drivers forget to make their legal stuff however it's the tank truck driver loaded with inflammables who fails to stop who poses the biggest threat to the engineer's own safety he knows that few truck drivers and few engineers survive such fiery collisions and if a passenger train is involved the number of injuries and the loss of life can be nothing short of catastrophic but whether his own safety is threatened or not an engineer dreads all close calls at crossings he knows that he is helpless to averted tragedy should a driver misjudge his speed or the speed of the train suddenly he may become the unwilling witness to one of the more than fifteen hundred deaths that occur at rail highway crossings each year unfortunately there is no simple solution to this serious problem railroads have been working with it for some time witness this educational poster of the steam era however today's population explosion the rapidly expanding highway system and the mushrooming national automobile registration now nearing the 100 million mark have placed a new urgency on the whole problem of highway safety including that at railroad crossings [Music] half a century ago when the horse was still a common means of transportation the motor car was already accounting for 10 000 deaths annually with one out of five occurring at a railroad crossing [Music] [Applause] today while deaths on our modern high-speed highways have increased fivefold now over fifty thousand annually fatalities at railroad crossings have declined to about three percent of that total a tribute to the effectiveness of the many thousands of railway markings advanced warning signs crossblocks wig wags bells gates and grade separations installed over the years through the cooperative efforts of railroad and highway traffic engineers but the railroad safety administrators believe that even one death at a crossing is too many and they point to one other sobering fact while one out of every 36 people in all highway accidents dies one out of four dies at a crossing accident it's a pretty uneven contest when you argue with the train both the railroad and the motorist have a responsibility at crossings but the responsibility is different the railroads involves before the time thinking it must provide crossing protection of a permanent nature cross blocks warning bells flashing lights and crossing gates advance warning signs are placed by the highway people and the motorist in turn has the responsibility to be vigilant at the time every time he approaches a railroad crossing at the latest count there were over 225 000 of these in the united states roughly one crossing per mile of mainline railroad while about 40 000 of the busier crossings are equipped with some form of automatic warning device or with crossing gates the majority are protected with the advance warning sign and the familiar railroad crossblock the number of grade separated crossings is still small to give such treatment to all grade crossings it has been estimated that it would cost nearly 100 billion dollars more than three times the total value of all the nation's railroads or almost twice the federal funds spent on all highway construction since world war one so it's apparent that neither the government or the railroads could take on the colossal job of separating all rail and highway traffic however there is a way of effectively reducing the death and injury toll at crossings as pointed out by the findings of the safety section of the interstate commerce commission now part of the new department of transportation at the conclusion of a three-year study of this problem they found that the principal cause of grade crossing accidents is the failure of motor car operators to stop and exercise you care and caution or to observe and comply with existing safety laws and regulations the commission also found that present safety regulations are reasonably adequate for the promotion of safe operations at grade crossings provided they are effectively enforced these conclusions support the long-time belief of many traffic experts that to reduce crossing accidents significantly the motorist must become more familiar with the law at crossings and he must be motivated to respect that law through its strict enforcement by city county and state police in addition the motorist must be thoroughly familiar with the various hazards present at crossings and must know how to avoid them [Music] while the laws vary slightly from state to state generally it is illegal for any person to drive a motor vehicle upon a railroad track at a public highway or street without taking proper precautions enabling him to stop his vehicle not less than 15 feet from the nearest track should a train be approaching certain vehicles of course must stop at virtually every railroad crossing whether a train is in sight or not these include school buses buses carrying passengers for hire tanker trucks and all other trucks loaded with explosives or inflammables the law is also crystal clear about those flashing lights and warning bells that say a train is coming the law says stop there is no difference between a flashing red light at a crossing and a flashing red light at an arterial stop both mean stop then proceed only when it is safe to do so who are the motorists who get into trouble at crossings [Music] first there's mr heavy foot drives a little too fast for conditions or maybe his brakes are faulty then there's mr dreamer who fails to notice boxcars ahead as big as billboards until it's too late you know it's a surprising fact that in one out of three crossing accidents it's the auto that runs into the trail over driving one's headlights at night or dozing at the wheel are two other causes of accidents at crossings [Music] and there's the impatient driver who swings around waiting traffic and the lowered gates directly into the path of a train gate crashers are becoming a major problem to the railroads they now smash on the average over 100 gates a month on just one railroad alone in california forcing it to stock spare parts at many crossings so that vital protection can be quickly restored [Music] and there are those follow the leader motorists who blindly follow other gamblers like sheep being led to slaughter [Music] that strong follow the leader instinct can lead to disaster and still another crossing situation too often thoughtless drivers let themselves get trapped boxed in by traffic ahead of them and by traffic behind them make it a rule never to drive under the track until you can drive all the way across though the engineer sees you remember his train is big and heavy and he may not be able to stop in time [Music] but should you for any reason get stalled on the track with a train close don't hesitate abandon the car and always clear the track in the direction from which the train is approaching to avoid being hit by flying wreckage [Music] double tracks can double cross you all too common is the driver who waits for a train to pass then the instant the last car goes by shoots across to be struck by another train he didn't see traveling in the opposite direction [Music] as you wait for a train to clear the crossing watch out for that second track don't cross until you can see well down the track in both directions and not until the warning signal has stopped [Music] and now one final word of advice from the national safety council that might well save your life approach all railroad crossings with your car under control first you'll see the round advance warning sign with the big black x on it before you get to the tracks if you're not exceeding the speed limit this should give you plenty of time to slow down so you'll be able to make a safe stop short of the track should a train be near look in both directions and if a train is coming don't take chances it's tricky to judge the speed of an object coming straight at you it's probably moving twice as fast as you think crossing at such a time is pretty much like playing russian roulette sure you'll win most of the time but what have you won a minute or two of time but if you should lose well is it really worth the gamble 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