The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has ordered Florida and nine other states to reduce the number of railroad-crossing accidents. A new rule released by the FRA requires the ten states with the highest rates of collisions between trains and cars to reduce the number of crashes, even though they have been decreasing in nearly all states in recent years.
Collisions between trains and cars have dropped by more than 50 percent in Florida in the past four years, but the FRA rule requires Florid to develop a five-year plan to reduce crashes. The plan must be submitted within a year and implemented within five years.
Ironically, federal funding that goes toward railroad-crossing safety is at stake. The Florida Department of Transportation gets $7 million annually from the federal government to use for railroad-crossing safety. That money usually is spent upgrading signals with LED lights or installing warning devices or crossing gates where there are none.
A number of accidents have inspired the rule as the FRA strives for zero crashes. In 2009, collisions caused 10 deaths in Florida, including a pedestrian who was struck by an Amtrak train on Christmas night. According to FRA data, 34 people were killed in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties from 2005 to April 2010.
The plans will likely incorporate a few strategies to improve railroad-crossing safety. Clearing away brush or foliage that can obstruct the view of train and automobile drivers is one relatively inexpensive option. Other possibilities include installing gates, lights and warning bells on roads that do not already have them as well as closing rarely used crossings.
Even at railroad crossings with upgraded lights and gates, collisions still occur. In November 2009, a driver stopped on the tracks between crossing gates after the gates had come down. She backed up to the gates behind her but then moved forward as a Tri-Rail train with 250 passengers flew through the crossing at 60 mph.
Because crashes like these happen even at upgraded railroad-crossings, experts say another way to improve safety is through education. Florida officials report that they intend to emphasize the danger of trains and the foolishness of trying to beat one across the tracks.
Florida and the nine other states are expected to follow the FRA's new rule. Officials agree that saving lives at railroad-crossings is a worthy goal.
