GRADE CROSSINGS and TRESPASSERS

Grade Crossings are a special case of a Physical System, since they involve both railroad and highway vehicles and infrastructure. Grade Crossings are considered apart from Railroad Systems, but have all the same layers as the socio-technical system. However, because the physical system is more complex (rail and highway infrastructure and vehicles), projects in this program area have focused on the physical system and the interaction of motorists with that physical system.

Grade crossings present a major hazard to motor vehicle drivers, as well as pedestrians, and are the second greatest cause of fatalities and injuries in the railroad industry. Many grade crossing accidents are directly due to motorist and commercial vehicle operator behavior. Approximately 50 percent of accidents occur at passive grade crossings because motorists and commercial vehicle operators do not stop when a train is in the proximity of the crossing. In approximately 10 percent of accidents, the motorists and commercial vehicle operators actually went around or through lowered gates. This program area focuses on why motorists and commercial vehicle operators would take such risks (motivation, expectations and perceptions) and on changes to grade crossing and train systems design to enhance safety.

Trespassers now account for the highest number of fatalities in the railroad industry. In 2007 there were 446 trespassing fatalities and 373 injuries. In many industrialized countries, suicides account for a large number of trespasser fatalities, and the proximity of mental health facilities to rail infrastructure accounts for many “hot spots” in trespasser incidents. However, there are many reasons for trespassing on railroad rights-of-way, some of which involve recreation, community access to services and media portrayals of such trespassing as a cultural right of passage.