Safer rail crossings?

nydepot,

I would say that the people that you would see slowing down at the railroad crossings are most likley your locals who live in the area who know the volume of rail traffic in the area and cross over them dailey while on there way to work or to the markit. Most people who don't live near a railroad or cross railroad tracks daily while runing out and about would be the ones most likley to run a crossing.

The State Police and the Shariffs Department love to sit on Centerport Road on occation to nail people runing the crossing. You will see them in the parking lot parked by the building during the day and some times late at nite. My Uncle used to sit there with the shariffs car many years ago befor transfering to the southern part of Cayuga County. He used to nail many people there and gave tickits with NO mercey. This gos back to a time when he responded to a kid who got killed on the tracks in 1985 or 1987 between Bonta Bridge Road and Pump Road.

...it is those most familiar with a crossing who are at risk feeling they know it well enough to ignore it. Or, have been across it a billion times and never seen a train, therfore....
An engineer friend of mine whose train struck a truck one day was given an explanation by the truck driver that he crossed the track all the time and never saw a train so he thought the track was abandoned.
Truth, unfortunately, is that there is no reason except not paying attention, that casues the disasters at rail crossings.

NYSdepot has a very valid point about Rochester drivers- they tend to be "speedier" and more agressive than most other parts of the state. I use the S Winton Rd crossing to go to work and I couldn't imagine anyone trying to flag a train there. The speed limit is 40 mph, although most people seem to drive even faster. Nobody slows down or stops, so the accident doesn't surprise me.

By contrast, the Bath & Hammondsport used to flag the crossings on its original mainline. Drivers would actually have the courtesy to stop, even on Rt. 54, which was 55 mph back in the '70s and '80s. Strangely enough, there were no accidents!

Matt Langworthy wrote:NYSdepot has a very valid point about Rochester drivers- they tend to be "speedier" and more agressive than most other parts of the state. I use the S Winton Rd crossing to go to work and I couldn't imagine anyone trying to flag a train there. The speed limit is 40 mph, although most people seem to drive even faster. Nobody slows down or stops, so the accident doesn't surprise me.

By contrast, the Bath & Hammondsport used to flag the crossings on its original mainline. Drivers would actually have the courtesy to stop, even on Rt. 54, which was 55 mph back in the '70s and '80s. Strangely enough, there were no accidents!

Guess you never drove in NYC or Long Island- believe me, that's where I learned how to drive. Rochester is Mr. Roger's Neighborhood compared to downstate. The big difference is that up here - people aren't as skilled and can't drive to save their lives, especially when the "traffic" here gets busy.

I think once people see the nose of a locomotive creeping across the road, you're not gonna find many who are going to argue with who has the right-of-way. Obviously - to flag Winton Rd S, they're going to wait til it's safe for the conductor to go out and cross the road. The presence of the train takes care of the rest.