By Rick Shapiro, Railroad Injury Attorney

Nearly a hundred people died in crashes with trains at hidden or obscured grade crossings in the United States between 2001 and 2005. The victims lost their lives in cars, in trucks, on foot and while riding motorcycles or bicycles. The railroad crossings were obscured by overgrown trees and bushes, curves in the road or natural or man-made features such as low hills or buildings. Almost all of the fatal accidents occurred at rural crossing where roads, highways and private driveways intersected with tracks in locations that lacked gates or warning lights — so-called “passive crossings.”

When people approaching train tracks do not know they are doing so, they don’t slow down or stop. When engineers and conductors on trains cannot see vehicles or people on tracks, they cannot begin braking in time to prevent tragedies ranging from severe injuries to deaths.

The Federal Railroad Administration wants to make these situations less common. Working with state officials across the country, FRA drafted a model Adequate Sight Distance at Passive Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Act and published it on January 7, 2010. Adoption of the legislation would

• Set minimum train stopping distances for the types of trains that use passive crossings.
• Require clearing all obstructions along the tracks from the intersection to the greatest minimum stopping distance.
• Require state inspectors to visit and recommend improvements to passive crossings on a regular basis.
• Authorize fines for crossing owners who do not clear sightlines.
• Establish a system for crossing owners to pay local governments or utilities for making crossing improvements.

The draft model law is brand new, and its unclear how many states will adopt it. At the same time, the need for improving the safety of passive grade crossings has never been greater. Freight rail for BNF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific is booming and appears set to continue growing in tonnage and number of trains for the next decade. Plans to expand Amtrak and other forms of long-distance passenger rail proliferate nationwide. More trains and more frequent rail trips increase the risk for crashes at grade crossings.

My colleagues and I see too often the damage trains do when they collide with vehicles at passive crossings. We fully support every effort to make rail crossings safer.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm with a long history of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers hold licenses in VA, NC, SC, WV, KY and DC and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern U.S. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Do’s and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad–The Railroad Worker’s FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.