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[quote user="greyhounds"] <blockquote> <div><img src="/TRCCS/Themes/trc/images/icon-quote.gif" /> Bucyrus:</div> <div></div>  <img src="/TRCCS/Themes/trc/images/icon-quote.gif" /> zugmann: <blockquote> <div>  Seriously.  What is your interest in the subject?  You seem hellbent on exploring every detail of this crossing, but never explain your interest in it. </div> </blockquote>  Grade crossing issues interest me because they seem to pose a bad problem that cannot be solved.  So I look into nooks and crannies to see what might have been overlooked in the quest for a solution.  I analyze the problem.  I write about this stuff.  It’s kind of like a hobby.  I find that there is great resistance to suggesting improvements because the industry and its representatives, after failing to solve the problem for over 150 years, hate the crossing violators so much that they appear to want them to be simply killed off by their behavior rather than to look for ways to save them, even though saving them might be a more effective way to actually solve the problem.  How else can you explain the incredible push back against the proposal to add a simple active advance warning system to a grade crossing on a 70 mph highway?    <div style="clear:both;"></div>   </blockquote> What is your definition of "Solved"?  Is it the total elimination of grade crossing accidents?  Perfection is not an option.  Nothing can be perfect. While I agree that having a speed limit of 70 MPH for heavy trucks on a highway that crosses a rail line at grade is not a good idea, you can not make grade crossings "Perfectly" safe.  You can not make anything "Perfectly" anything.   The numbers I have found are from 2005.  In that year the FRA grade crossing inventory indicated that there were 147,681 public grade crossings in the US.  359 fatalities occurred at at those crossings.  When you put it in context and consider the hundreds of millions of vehicles that went over those crossings that year you have to realize that the incidence of grade crossing fatalities is quite low.  There is a great safety record. It is only when you compare the grade crossing accident rate to a totally unreasonable standard of perfection that you can claim there is a problem in need of a solution.  This isn't to say there can't be improvements.  But remember that any resources, such as money, that are diverted to those improvements have to come from someplace else.  And those resources probably have better uses.[/quote] Yes, by “solving the problem,” I do mean eliminating it.  It may not be achievable, but that would be the benchmark goal.  Actually, I think it would be achievable with the complete elimination of grade crossings, so in that sense, perfection is achievable.   <o:p></o:p> Regarding the size of the problem, I really do not know how to quantify it.  Statistically, the problem of grade crossing crashes may seem small compared to the encounters that do not result in crashes.   But still, the problem does seem very significant.  The industry and everyone else involved with the problem acts like it is an extremely serious problem and they put forth a lot of effort to mitigate it.   I think it is fair to say that those parties believe the problem is in need of a solution even if the solution is only progress towards perfection, but may never reach the goal of perfection.  <o:p></o:p> Regarding the Nevada crossing, I agree that no grade crossing can be made perfectly safe.  But the Federal D.O.T. has crossing system accessory called Advance Active Warning that is intended for use with signalized crossings on high-speed roads.  Not every signalized crossing is set up exactly the same way.  They are customized for the conditions, such as an unusual road alignment in the approach or visibility issues, for example.  The relatively high speed limit of the highway is just the condition that calls for the AAW add-on to the crossing protection system.  It won’t make the crossing perfectly safe, but it will make it safer than it is now.
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