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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">This brings up a lot of issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">First of all, the FRA has declared that freight trains can be hard to see at night, and that is why the FRA has mandated side reflectors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I don’t agree with the reasoning because the law requires drivers to have their headlights on and not over-drive them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>However in a recent thread about this, several forum members sided with the FRA reasoning and the reflector mandate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>They agreed that drivers should be forgiven for running into stopped trains and even gave their own personal examples of nearly running into trains at night because they could not see them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>This refers generally to non-signaled crossings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">    </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I have been waiting for this type of accident to demonstrate that drivers are not the morons that everybody has long declared them to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Somebody else had to be the moron in this accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Who parked that train out there as a death trap for drivers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Clearly the railroad is at fault in this case because the signals failed, but even if it were a non-signaled crossing, the railroad would have been at fault for leaving a road hazard there.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">But the really spectacular irony here is the fact that the tank cars have reflectors and they did not do the job that was intended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Freight cars need to have electric warning lights on their sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Obviously, the cars are a hazard to drivers and reflectors are not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">I would say that the FRA declaration that freight trains can be hard for drivers to see at night, takes the blame game in a whole different direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It stands on its head, the long held belief that trains always have the right of way at grade crossings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p>
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