Why Are Rail Road Crossing Important

Rail Road Crossings can pose a serious danger to those driving in vehicles that don't listen or pay attention to rail-way crossings. It is a simple law of physics that tells us that if a train and vehicle collide, the vehicle is going to lose every time. There are many things that I learned I should do to help keep myself and my passengers safe when driving around trains.

First, you should always slow down when you come to a railroad crossing. Besides slowing down and looking both directions, you need to listen. Trains often blow their horns when approaching crossings, but if your radio is up, it may be hard to hear them. The same is true if you are on a bike, or walking near rail road crossings. Today's portable devices that allow us to talk, text and listen to music can be very distracting. We need to avoid those distractions when near train crossings and on train platforms. I was surprised to learn that we should even take our hoods off to listen.

Every railroad crossing should be taken seriously. We should expect a …show more content…
Another thing I learned is the importance of staying behind the yellow strip or line when waiting for Trax. It's also important that anything you carry be behind the yellow line as well.

A few other lessons to keep you safe and save your life when dealing with railroad crossings include never get trapped on a railroad crossing. This means making sure you can drive all the way across. I was with my Dad once who pointed this out as we were approaching some tracks and on the other side a ways there was a traffic light. As the traffic pilled up, my Dad was smart enough to know not to begin across the tracks until the other traffic was out of the way far enough that he could safely stop on the other