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[quote user="wabash1"] [quote user="Bucyrus"] It is interesting to consider that in the final analysis, according to traffic laws, a driver would be at fault in any collision with a train at an active grade crossing, even if the signals had failed to activate.  But I guess that, in a civil case, the negligence of a failed signal can outweigh the failure to obey the traffic law. [/quote] The reality of it is if somebody does something stupid at a railroad crossing such as drive around gates never stop walk down the tracks with headphones on or jump on a moving train and fall under it and in any of these or countless other ways to get hurt or killed by the railroad it is not their fault it is the railroads fault. at least in the eyes of the court system[/quote]              I can understand the reason why railroads would be a tempting target for lawsuits.  They have deep pockets, and everybody on a jury knows they are notoriously dangerous.  So all the plaintiff has to do is convince a jury that a little bit of that danger was negligence.  But surely the industry does not lose every case to grade crossing violators, do they? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> When I suggested that railroads might need a different kind of presentation to convince a jury that the signals were working, I was thinking of a video recording.  It seems to me that if BNSF could have gone into court with an unambiguous video showing the gates and lights working, the car maneuvering around the lowered gates, and the point of impact, I don’t think a jury could be persuaded that it was the railroad company’s fault.  Does every locomotive have a video camera recording the track ahead these days that would make such a crash witness video possible? <o:p></o:p> I have never seen crossing signals fail to activate, but I have seen them falsely activate many dozens of times.  But I do understand that is it possible for them to fail to activate even though it is apparently rare.  It would be interesting to know the specific instances where signals have been known to fail to activate.  But there are reasons why this information is not forthcoming.  Victim advocacy groups would have you believe that failure to activate happens very often, and often leads to grade crossing crashes.  Are they exaggerating for their own interest?  Does the railroad industry exaggerate the infrequency of crossing signal failure to activate? <o:p></o:p> I can certainly understand the motive of victims to falsely claim that the signals had failed to activate.  But in this day and age, you would think that signal activation could be clearly established by either a trackside or locomotive mounted device or a combination of the two.  For as important as the signal activation event is, it ought not be left to accounts from eyewitnesses who have a stake in the legal outcome.   <o:p></o:p> I have read an article in the NY Times that discusses failure to activate as being a big problem nationwide.  They cite several cases of complete failure and also something they call “short signal,” meaning failure to provide at least 20 seconds of warning before the train reaches the crossing.  They concentrate a lot of scrutiny on Amtrak trains, and make the case that their different type of braking can render the locomotive incapable of activating grade crossing signals.  <o:p></o:p> Here it is, but the link may not work for long unless you register:  <A href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E1D61739F933A05751C1A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all" mce_href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E1D61739F933A05751C1A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all">http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E1D61739F933A05751C1A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all</A>
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