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Under the Federal Railroad Administration, the number of railroad accidents declined by more than 75 percent between 1978 and 1993. The railroad accident rate per million train miles dropped by more than two-thirds, and the number of rail-related fatalities and injuries fell by three-fourths during this period. These safety improvements occurred even as freight railroad traffic and train density increased to record high levels following economic deregulation of the industry as a result of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980. Though these statistics sound great, the fact remains that every 90 minutes, a train accident occurs in the United States. Many of these accidents are preventable. So much could be done to prevent railroad accidents if railroad track was properly maintained and if all railroad crossings.
Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing Safety Research
The Accident Prevention Division performs research in support of the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Office of Research and Development to improve highway-railroad grade crossing safety. This research includes innovative warning signs, more reliable active signal systems, techniques to increase the conspicuity of trains, improved acoustic warning systems, and technologies applicable to the needs of high speed rail passenger service. To help identify additional research needs, the FRA recently sponsored a comprehensive workshop as required by the US DOT Highway-Rail Crossing Safety Action Plan. The goal of the workshop was to develop an intermodal consensus of grade crossing safety research needed to reduce accidents and fatalities by fifty percent (50%) over the next ten years. New initiatives identified by the workshop include enforcement and education activities as well as a greater emphasis on the human response to grade crossing warning device applications. A railroad accident involving a vehicle or a pedestrian occurs ten to twelve times a day! A moving train has an enormous amount of momentum due to its shear weight. A train traveling at speed cannot make a stop prior to one third of a mile. The impact of a train with another train or another vehicle can cause devastating injuries and even death. When a railroad accident or train accident does occur, there are laws in the state of that govern whether or not the railroad carrier is liable for injuries and/or damages. Many factors determine if the railroad company was at fault or could have done something to prevent the accident. Furthermore, if the railroad carrier is at fault, there are even more factors to consider to determine the extent of liability. Every railroad must report a train accident to the Federal Railroad Administration within thirty days of an accident. As a railroad passenger, we trust that railroad transportation travel is safe and that railroad carriers are practicing the highest safety measures and care. |
