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Why not traffic lights and crossing lights?
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>There is another element that is woven into the culture of grade crossing behavior besides the worry about being excessively delayed by the train.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That is the general belief by drivers that the signals are merely advisory to indicate the approach of a train, and that drivers are permitted to use their own discretion as to whether to stop and wait for the train.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When you couple this belief with the worry about being delayed, you get extreme risk taking in trying to beat the train.<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>With the three-color traffic lights, most drivers understand that the red light means absolute stop and wait.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But that is not necessarily how they interpret the meaning of the grade crossing flashers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>With grade crossings, drivers often believe that the flashers indicate an approaching train, and that they (the drivers) can then assess the nature of the train event, and then base their response on that assessment.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This belief is a carryover from the passive (non-signalized) grade crossings that were once universal throughout the country, and are still widely used.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Passive crossings simply require drivers to yield to trains, and all that yielding requires is that they do not get hit by a train.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If a car gets over a crossing just a few feet ahead of a train without getting hit, the driver has yielded to the train.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At some point, however, such a near miss might be considered reckless driving, but that determination will vary between police officers that happen to observe it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Yielding does not necessarily even require a driver to slow down for the crossing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Adding more to the ambiguity arises from the long use of the Griswold signals with the STOP sign that rotates to face traffic when the signals activate.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That is the conventional octagon stop sign that means <U>stop and yield</U>, not <U>stop and wait</U>.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Furthermore, some grade crossing laws do permit drivers to proceed against the flashing grade crossing signals under certain conditions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></P><FONT face=verdana,geneva> <o:p></o:p></FONT> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Most, if not all, state laws stipulate that the lowered gates do require drivers to stop and wait unconditionally, but that is not the case with the flashing lights.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And no driver is going to unravel the meaning of the state laws on grade crossings and make distinctions between the fine points.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In parsing the words of the Illinois law on grade crossings, for instance, I am not able to interpret its meaning as it applies to the Amtrak crash that killed Katie Lunn.<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 size=2>So drivers are not likely to adhere to the letter of the law.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Instead, they behave by tradition, even if the tradition is at odds with certain points in the law.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Therefore, </SPAN>it is understandable that drivers might believe they are permitted to use their own discretion in going around lowered gates as well as in passing the red flashing lights, just as they use their discretion at non-signalized grade crossings.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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