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There is something about railroad crossings that seems to pose an almost magnetic attraction to collisions with motor vehicles. There is an obvious explanation that never seems to get factored into the official response to the problem of grade crossing safety. The obvious explanation is that trains often produce a relatively long delay to road vehicles compared to the usual delays produced by other vehicles. When traveling at 40 or 50 miles per hour, a typical train does not delay road traffic much longer than a large, signaled intersection with conflicting road traffic, so it seems puzzling that there would be such great risk taking to avoid waiting 30-60 seconds for a train to pass. However, trains occasionally travel for miles at the speed river barge commerce. Sometimes they stop while blocking crossings, and stand still for several minutes for reasons incomprehensible to the blocked motorists. The worst part for drivers who have been blocked by a train for say ten minutes is not knowing how much longer the delay will last. If it is going to be an hour, the driver may be better off to turn around and look for an alternate route. Since nearly every driver has had this dreadful experience, the possibility of a serious delay is on the mind of nearly every driver who encounters a railroad grade crossing where a train is approaching. Railroad officials and law enforcement display a rather condescending attitude toward motorists who are apparently so impatient that they would take a risk trying to beat a train. However, their viewpoint never seems to factor in the absurdly long delays that trains regularly hand out with impunity to the motoring public at grade crossings. This does not excuse drivers who take the risk of trying to beat a train, but it does explain it. The sad irony is that risk of trying to beat a train in order to avoid a delay is the highest when the train is going so fast that it is unlikely to produce a delay.
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