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Why not traffic lights and crossing lights?
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<P mce_keep="true">[quote user="aegrotatio"]I was looking at the Cambridge, MA crossing of the Grand Junction Railroad and wondered why don't railroad crossings use traffic lights in addition to crossing lights? People stop at traffic lights without thinking about it. Since it's rare, people have to think about stopping at railroad crossing lights.<BR><BR>Have any studies pointed to the use of traffic lights in addition to crossing lights?<BR><BR>[/quote]</P> <P mce_keep="true"> </P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>What matters is not the difference between traffic lights and grade crossing signals.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What matters is the difference between road intersections and grade crossings.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Drivers take unusual risks in trying to beat the train because they worry about insufferable delays that trains can sometimes cause.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There is no reason to take such risks at highway intersections controlled by traffic lights.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But if you put traffic lights on grade crossings, drivers will run the traffic lights and take the same kind of risk that they always do at grade crossings.</FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Traffic engineers have data showing that the level of compliance with a red octagon STOP sign is much worse when such signs are at grade crossings, as opposed to when they are at road intersections.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Therefore, one of the reasons why traffic engineers resist the addition of STOP signs to non-signalized grade crossings is that the greater disrespect for grade crossings will become more attached to STOP signs in general, and thus render stop signs less effective for road intersections.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face=verdana,geneva size=2></FONT></SPAN> </P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT face=verdana,geneva><FONT size=2>It therefore stands to reason that the applications of traffic signals to grade crossings will not only fail to improve compliance with grade crossing law, but it will also reduce compliance with those signals where they control road intersections.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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