Railroad Crossing Barriers
The Ashland railfan cameras show the many accidents and near misses that occur at our railroad crossings. One of the factors that may contribute to this problem is that car drivers may not see the barriers in the down position until it is too late. Another concern is that the driver may see the barrier coming down, but then decides to dodge around it.
The severity of both of these issues could be reduced if we were to make the following changes.
Have the barrier cross the entire width of the road. This would prevent drivers from trying to zig zag around them.
A steel mesh could be installed on the barrier so that, when it comes down, the driver sees what looks like a solid gate.
The picture at the head of this postwas taken earlier this month at a small town railway crossing in England. The gate features both of these improvements: it crosses the full width of the road, and it has a gate that blocks the entire road.
Note that the gate also has a flashing red light that warns traffic that a train is about to cross — similar to what is installed on our crossings.
