Railroad Crossings and Sharing the Road with Trucks Flashcards
Special signs, signals, and pavement markings are used to warn and regulate drivers at railroad crossings, although you should not expect to see all of these
signals used at every railroad crossing.
There are a number of warning signs used to alert drivers of a railroad crossing.
Railroad Crossings
Cross bucks at a railroad crossing mark the location of
the tracks.
When displayed alone, you should treat a cross buck as a yield sign and the decision to stop or cross the tracks is yours. You should stop if there is a train approaching.
When a cross buck is displayed with a stop sign you
must come to a complete stop and proceed over the tracks only after making certain that a train is not approaching.
Never assume that because there is only a stop sign posted
that a train is not coming.
Some vehicles are required by law to always stop at
railroad crossings not closer than 15 feet or further than
50 feet from the nearest rail. This requirement does not
apply to abandoned railroad tracks.
Vehicles that must stop at a railroad crossing include:
- All vehicles carrying passengers for hire.
- All school buses.
- All vehicles carrying explosives or flammable liquids.
Where train-activated warning devices include warning bells, flashings lights, or lights and gates, you must stop and not proceed until the active warning is cancelled or you are directed to proceed by a law enforcement officer or railroad flagman.
Cross Bucks
- Obey the warning signs. Due to the size of trains, the actual speed of a train can be very deceiving. Under no circumstances should you attempt to race a train to a crossing. It is illegal to drive around a crossing gate that is down.
- Avoid stopping or shifting gears while crossing railroad tracks. A driver should never begin to cross railroad tracks unless the tracks can be cleared without stopping. If your vehicle stalls on the tracks, all occupants should immediately leave the vehicle. Look for the emergency notification sign at the crossing with contact information to call the railroad about a blocked crossing and contact 911 for assistance.
- Watch for additional trains. Where there is more than one track, a driver waiting for the track to clear must make sure another train is not coming on the other track once the first train has cleared. Be careful that a train is not proceeding in the opposite direction behind the first train.
-
Be aware of ‘local quiet zones’ where locomotive horns are not sounded by
approaching trains at some gated crossings. - Be aware that some trains operate on tracks in the middle of streets. In those cases, traffic signals flash red in all directions to indicate the presence of an approaching train. Drivers should treat this indication like any other crossing warning.
- Trains cannot stop quickly. If you are on a collision course with a train, only you can prevent the collision.
- Do not pass another vehicle within 100 feet of a railroad crossing.
Railroad Crossing Safety Tips
A truck will take longer to stop than a car traveling at the same speed, so you should not make a sudden lane change or stop in front of a truck. The average passenger car traveling at 55 mph can stop in about 130-140 feet,
about half the length of a football field. A fully loaded tractor-trailer with hot brakes may take more than 400 feet to come to a complete stop, or more than the length of a football field.
Braking (Big Truck)
With any turning vehicle, the rear wheels follow a shorter path than the front wheels, and the longer the vehicle is, the greater the difference will be. Truck drivers often swing out as the first step in making a tight turn. When
following a truck, watch its turn signals before trying to pass, especially to the right. If the truck appears to be moving to the left, wait a moment to check and see which way the driver is signaling and watch for a right turn.
Turning (Big Truck)
Many drivers falsely assume that a truck driver can see the road better because he/she sits twice as high as the driver of a car. While truck drivers do have a better forward view and bigger mirrors, they still have serious blind
spots into which a car can completely disappear from view. Blind spot for the truck driver will be up to 20 feet in front of the cab, on either side of the trailer,
alongside the cab, and up to 200 feet behind the truck.
Drivers lingering in the blind spots on the sides and in the rear, hamper a truck driver’s ability to take evasive action to avoid a dangerous situation.
Blind Spots (Big Trucks)
Trucks are designed to carry products long distances but are not designed to be as maneuverable as cars. Trucks weigh more, have longer stopping and accelerating distances, and have a wider turning radius. On multi-lane highways, tractor-trailers stay in the center lane to help the flow of local traffic on and off the highway.
Staying in the middle lane also increases the truck driver’s options if he or she has to switch lanes in order to avoid a dangerous situation or an accident.
Maneuverability (Big Trucks)
