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Amtrak Accident - Non-Working Crossing Signals

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[quote user="schlimm"] [quote user="Bucyrus"]As a driver, I do not know what that sentence specifically means.  It only suggests to me that I am to be careful of getting hit by a train.  I would interpret it as a yield requirement. [/quote]  May I suggest that perhaps you should interpret that as a warning sign instead of a yield?  "They alert you to conditions ahead. These signs are usually diamond-shaped and warn you about road hazards, construction sites, schools or other situations that require your special attention. Most warning signs are yellow."  - Illinois Rules of the Road [/quote] “The person [driver] must exercise due care and caution as the existence of a railroad track across a highway is a warning of danger.” <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> I understand your point about sentenced I referenced above in blue may be analogous to a warning sign.  Normally a crossbuck at a signalized or non-sigalized crossing means the same thing as a YIELD sign.  And the yield meaning would normally apply to signalized crossings even when the signals are not activated.  To yield to trains, a driver must look for trains.  However, Illinois law specifically removes that the yield requirement from the crossbucks at signalized crossings. <o:p></o:p> Therefore, without a yield requirement, a driver is not required to look for trains.  Looking for trains would often require a driver to slow down significantly, depending on sight lines down the tracks.  It would tend to delay traffic, confuse other drivers, and cause rear-end collisions.  Without a yield requirement, a driver is to drive straight through the crossing, looking only at the signals and complying with their indication.  <o:p></o:p> The sentence in blue may constitute a warning about the hazard of approaching trains.  If so, it would require a driver to look for approaching trains and give way to any that are approaching.  And if that were the case, it would be telling a driver to yield according to the definition of yield.  But one might reasonably conclude that the sentence in blue does not mean yield for the following two reasons: <o:p></o:p> 1)      The law specifically removes the default yield requirement that would otherwise be imposed by the crossbuck.   2)      The default yield requirement of the crossbuck clearly defines the action required of the driver, whereas the sentence in blue does not. <o:p></o:p> Furthermore, if one assumes that the sentence in blue is a requirement to yield, it would seem to make no sense for the law to remove a clear requirement to yield based on the crossbuck, and replace it with a less clear requirement to yield based on the sentence in blue.  <o:p></o:p> Therefore, I do not know what the sentence in blue means.  If it is only a warning, it still requires driver action.  If a driver is warned about falling rocks, the driver is supposed to look for falling rocks. <o:p></o:p> In lieu of having any way to know what the sentence in blue means, and in thinking about it further, I can only assume that the sentence in blue means this:   It is a warning about the hazard of not looking at the automatic signals and/or not complying with them if they are activated.
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