The Responsibility is Ours

Highway-Rail Grade Crossing
Awareness/Training for School Bus Drivers

Presented by: Operation Lifesaver, Inc.

Some 5000 collisions at highway-rail crossings occur each year
with 600 deaths and 2000 injuries. These injuries include amputations,
paralysis, severe burns and lacerations. Most of these collisions occur
within 25 miles of home.

Student Notes

Operation Lifesaver, Inc.
Operations Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) is a nationwide, nonprofit public information organization dedicated to reducing collisions, injuries and fatalities at highway-rail grade crossings as well as discouraging trespassing on tracks and trestles. OLI continues to provide information to all groups of driver - professional or otherwise. Operation Lifesaver programs exist in 49 states and have contributed significantly to a 50 percent reduction in crashes and casualties since 1972, despite an increase in traffic at these intersections.

Goal
The goal for this training/awareness program is to illustrate the potential dangers that await school bus drivers at highway-rail crossings. Under no circumstances is it reasonable to attempt to cross the tracks if a train is approaching because trains cannot stop quickly. In addition, it is against the law to drive around lowered gates and, if an accident occurs, you can be legally liable.

School Bus Driver Reminders

School buses with or without passengers should stop at least 15 feet and no more than 50 feet from the tracks.

For improved looking and listening, open the driver's window and the service door and signal for quiet.

Both regular and substitute drivers should know the route and should be aware of the highway-rail crossings on it. Any driver with responsibility for the safe passage of the students on that bus should understand how the length of the bus is related to these highway-rail crossings.

Obey the highway-rail crossing signals.

At a crossing with more than one set of tracks, after one train passes, be sure to check for a second train approaching on an adjacent track.

Always expect a train

NOTES ON PREVENTING COLLISIONS

Warning Devices

There are a number of advance warning signs that are there to warn motorists of potential danger. For professional drivers, they can serve as a reminder when there are other matters demanding their concentration.

1.Round Yellow Warning Sign
A round black on yellow warning sign is placed ahead of a public crossing. Apply brakes while waiting so that you won't move or be shoved into the path of the train.

2.Crossbuck Sign
The most familiar sign at a highway-rail grade crossing is the crossbuck.
It marks the crossing and serves the same purpose as a yield sign.

3.Pavement Markings
Pavement markings in advance of a grade crossing consist of an "X" with the letter "R" to the left and right of it and a "No Passing" sign on two-lane roads.

4.Multiple Sets of Tracks
Crossings with two or more tracks pose a special risk. The number of tracks is sometimes posted on a sign below the crossbuck. There is always the potential of another train, possibly hidden by the first, approaching on a different track. Trains can be coming from either direction depending on the crossing.

5.Stop Sign
Stop signs mean the same as they do at a regular intersection.

6.Gates/Lights
When the lights are flashing, assume a train is approaching. Once the gates come down against the law. If you cross, you will be legally liable for any deaths or to your students or any damage to those around you.

7.Obstructed View of Tracks
Do not attempt to cross the tracks until you are certain that no trains are approaching. Even if the crossing appears to be clear, you must look and listen to be sure it is safe to proceed. Also if you are driving a standard transmission, do not change gears on the tracks.

8.Flagman/Police at Crossing
If a police office or flagman is present at the crossing, obey directions. If there is no flagman, and you believe the signals are malfunctioning, do not proceed. Call your dispatcher to reach the police. Some crossing have an 800 number posted to call for help.

HIGHWAY-RAIL FACTS

• In 1994, 610 people were killed and 1,923 seriously injured in 4,921 highway-rail grade crossing collisions*
• 529 people were killed while trespassing on railroad right-of-way and property
• about every 90 minutes a vehicle and train collide in the United States
• a motorist is 30 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision involving another motor vehicle
• there are over 280,000 highway-rail grade crossings in the United States
• more people die in highway-rail crashes every year than in commercial airline crashes in an average year
• over 50 percent of crashes at public grade crossings occur where active warning devices (gates, lights, bells) exist
• most vehicle-train crashes occur within 25 miles of the motorist's home
• trains cannot stop quickly:
  • 150-car freight train approximate stopping distance
    • 30 mph = 3,500 feet or 2/3 of a mile
    • 50 mph = 8,000 feet or 1-1/2 miles
  • 8-car passenger train approximate stopping distance
    • 50 mph = 3,500 feet or 2/3 of a mile
    • 79 mph - 6,000 feet or 1-1/8 miles
• the majority of highway-rail crashes occur when the train is traveling less than 30 mph
• railroad tracks, yards and equipment are private property and trespassers are subject to arrest and fines
• * Preliminary Federal Railroad Administration figures total 1994.
  For updated figures call 1 800 537-6224

I've worked on Conrail locomotives for 14 years, and I've been driving them for six years now, sometimes right through your towns. I'm writing this because I know lots of you are angry about whistle-blowing, and you don't believe we only blow them in emergencies. You don't know how many emergencies there are every day. You don't know how scary it is to be driving a train and think you're going to hit someone running around the gates. You don't know what it feels like to see someone lock eyes with you for an instant, and then die.
I've been involved in six crossing collisions in my career. Four people aren't alive anymore because of them. The first one happened two weeks after I started working... the last one happened this past February in Monroe, Michigan. That last one almost killed me.
I knew I was going to hit her when she came up to the crossing, and I didn't see any tail lights. I blew my whistle I hung on that whistle so long and so hard my conductor told me later he thought I was going to pull it off the wall. I was still blowing it after we hit her, after we shoved her a half mile down the tracks, after the front of her car blew 30 feet in the air.
She was 31 years old, and she was dead. People don't look normal when a train hits them. It hits so hard that their blood vessels explode, and they just sort of turn to mush. She was wadded up in a ball and there was blood all over the place. And her 4-year-old baby was hanging out the back window, screaming. It was 17 below zero.
The baby's leg was broken... and her nose and her pelvis... and she was hysterical. I knew she was in a lot of pain, but it was so cold. I was afraid she would die before the ambulance got there. My conductor and I somehow got her up in the engine, and I wrapped her in my coat, and I held her and talked to her, and tried to make it all right. I had that little girl for 20 minutes. I told her about my own kids, and I told her we'd pray for her mommy. She calmed down a little, and I was calm when I had her to take care of. They say she's going to be okay.
Right after they took her away, a man ran up to help. Then he looked at the wreck and screamed, "Oh my God, that's my car!" It turned out to be that woman's husband.
I know there was nothing I could've done, but you blame yourself anyway. It tears your heart out, thinking what if, what if, what if. I came home and looked at my three kids and thought, I don't ever want this to happen to you. I grabbed them with everything I had. I couldn't sleep. Every time I'd close my eyes, I'd see the car coming and feel the impact and wake up screaming. I didn't eat or talk for four days. It tore me up mentally, physically, emotionally. Some people think we don't care, but they're wrong. We grieve, we mourn like it was our own family. I'll remember that day the rest of my life.
I went to counseling Conrail offered me, and it helped a lot. I know I didn't kill this woman. I know it was beyond my control. I still have nightmares, but they're not so bad anymore. I'm back on my feet and I'm back on the job. But it's been a long, hard road.
Folks, we're not blowing our whistle to make you miserable. We're blowing our whistle cause we're scared to death we're going to hit you and kill you. Sometimes I yell at you when it's a close call. I say, Oh God, I'm just so glad you made it. And then I get so mad that you weren't more careful.

Don't drive around those gates. Don't walk on the tracks. Don't risk your life to get someplace a minute earlier. It just isn't worth it.

Submitted by:
Denise Goodman, Conrail Engineer

"The Responsibility is Ours - Student Notes" is reproduced with permission of Operation Lifesaver