Background on Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety

Promoting safety at the Nation’s approximately 227,000 highway-rail grade crossings in order to prevent collisions between motor vehicles and trains is a shared responsibility between motorists, railroads, and local, state, and federal transportation and safety agencies. Overall, train-vehicle collisions are the second leading cause of rail-related fatalities in the United States.

As the result of cooperative efforts by many safety partners and stakeholders, the number of train-vehicle collisions at grade crossings has been reduced by 80 percent from a high of 13,557 incidents in 1978 to 2,746 in 2007 despite significant increases in both highway and train traffic. Likewise, the number of persons killed as a result of grade crossing collisions has decreased by 70 percent from a high of 1,115 in 1976 to 338 in 2007.

Flashing lights or lights with gates do improve safety at grade crossings, but they do not prevent all collisions. Approximately half of crossing collisions occur where such active warning devices are installed and operating as intended. And, nearly one-quarter of all crossing collisions involve the motor vehicle striking the side of a train that is already fully occupying the crossing.

Of the approximate 227,000 grade crossings in the country, about 140,000 are at publicly owned highways while about 87,000 are located at privately owned roadways. Of the public grade crossings, about 53 percent are equipped with active warning devices.

Education, Enforcement, and Engineering

Efforts to improve grade crossing safety generally fall into one of three basic approaches. Experience has shown that all three must be aggressively and simultaneously employed by a wide variety of safety partners to be truly effective in reducing crossing incidents and fatalities.
 

• EDUCATION: Motorists must learn how to be safe at grade crossings as an estimated 94 percent of collisions and 87 percent of fatalities result from risky driver behavior or poor judgment. Public awareness programs help drivers to safely navigate grade crossings.

• ENFORCEMENT:  Consistent enforcement by local or state police of traffic safety laws, and a sustained effort by the courts to impose penalties on violators, discourage and deter motorists from making poor decisions at grade crossings.

• ENGINEERING:  Engineering improvements such as installing flashing lights and gates, adding traffic dividers that deter motorists from driving around lowered gates, or physically separating the highway from the tracks greatly reduce or prevent the potential for train-vehicle collisions.

Role of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) oversees a comprehensive grade crossing safety program described, in part, in the U.S. Secretary of Transportation’s Highway-Rail Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Action Plan. FRA inspectors also enforce federal rail safety regulations governing the operation of grade crossing signal systems and railroad accident / incident reporting requirements, as well as investigate a select number of grade crossing incidents. And, FRA conducts applied research on various aspects of grade crossing safety, and sponsors technology demonstration projects to advance our understanding of the subject.

In addition, each of FRA’s eight regional offices has dedicated Highway-Rail Grade Crossing and Trespass Prevention staff that work directly with local and state governments, other federal safety agencies, and not-for-profit organizations such as Operation Lifesaver, Inc. to advance wide-ranging educational, enforcement, and engineering projects and activities.

Role of Railroads

Railroads have the right-of-way at highway-rail grade crossings just as large ships possess the right-of-way on navigable waterways, (i.e., large and heavy conveyances cannot stop or turn quickly). As such, a grade crossing collision can rarely be avoided through the actions of a train crew. However, railroads have important responsibilities that are critical to ensuring safety at grade crossings. Under federal regulations, railroads are required to:

• Inspect, test, and maintain grade crossing active warning systems, including testing the equipment at least once a month to ensure it operates as intended and provides at least 20 seconds warning time to motorists before the train arrives at the crossing;

• Provide for alternate means of warning motorists in the event of a grade crossing signal malfunction or when it is necessary to remove one from service (for testing or repair), avoid interference in the normal functioning of these devices, and repair malfunctioning signals without undue delay;

• Report either telephonically and/or in writing as required all grade crossing collisions, as well as incidents involving the failure of an active warning device so that federal and state regulatory agencies can identify and obtain useful information necessary for improving grade crossing safety;

• Maintain the track structure including proper drainage to avoid disrupting the electrical operation of grade crossing signal systems and removing vegetation on railroad property that could interfere with the visibility of grade crossing warning signs and signals by both motorists and train crews;

• Operate trains within speed limitations imposed by federal regulation and the railroad’s own operating rules, and sound the locomotive horn on approach to, and until occupying, all public grade crossings unless the crossing is part of an FRA recognized Quiet Zone;

• Properly maintain the event recorder (black box) on all locomotives that operate over 30 miles per hour to preserve data following any collision or incident which can aid local police in their investigations to determine responsibility for grade crossing collisions; and

• Increase the visibility of trains for motorists by maintaining and ensuring properly functioning auxiliary alerting lights on all lead locomotives operating greater than 20 miles per hour and by affixing reflectorized tape to locomotives and rail cars.
  

Role of States and Local Governments

States and local governments also play critically important roles in ensuring grade crossing safety by daily exercising their own responsibilities, including:

• Selecting appropriate highway traffic control devices, including grade crossing warning systems, advance roadway signage, and pavement markings and arranging to have the railroad install and maintain grade crossing active warning equipment;

• Determining, with the railroad, the need for, and design of, interconnections between grade crossing active warning systems and other highway traffic control signals, including appropriate timing;

• Investigating motor vehicle accidents occurring on public roads, including grade crossing collisions;

• Instructing, examining and licensing motor vehicle operators; and

• Enforcing state requirements, if any, regarding clearance of sight obstructions on railroad (or other) property at grade crossings.

Decisions About Making Grade Crossing Safety Improvements

The entity charged with maintaining the roadway that crosses over the tracks is primarily responsible for initiating the process to determine whether a grade crossing safety improvement is needed, what the possible improvement might be, and how to pay for it. 

If the highway is owned by a public entity (i.e., state, county, city or township), the state transportation department or public utilities commission typically oversees the highway safety improvement process and works with the railroad that owns the tracks.  If the highway is a private roadway intended for non-public access to private property (i.e., farmland, industrial or residential) then responsibility for grade crossing safety improvements is determined by contractual arrangement between the railroad and the private property owner.

Funding Grade Crossing Safety Improvements

The funds required to pay for grade crossing safety improvements can come from local governments, state legislatures, federal highway programs, railroads, and even private entities such as commercial or residential developers.
 
Under a provision in the federal surface transportation funding law known as SAFETEA-LU, Congress has determined that $220 million a year (through FY2009) shall be divided among the states for the elimination of hazards and the installation of protective devices at highway-rail grade crossings.  These funds are distributed by the Federal Highway Administration to each state department of transportation using a predetermined funding formula. 

The state agency is responsible for maintaining a prioritized list of grade crossings in need of safety improvements and decides which crossings the federal funding will be applied toward.

  For more information contact:
FRA Public Affairs (202) 493-6024
June 2008