mandatory reflectors on locomotives and freight cars

I just came across this in the Monthly Bull Sheet News Letter.
The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a rule requiring railroads to install yellow or white reflectors on locomotives and rail cars to make the equipment more visible to motorists at grade crossings. As of March 4, the rule will require railroads to install the reflectors on locomotives over five years, and on freight rail cars over 10 years.
Soon, when taking photos of locomotives and freight cars using a flash they will light up like a Christmas tree.
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THANK YOU, Federal Government!

This is some what old news I read this in the news paper like 2 days after that Metro Link accdent happened. This has been propsed several times in the past. I'm suprised that the government is rilly going to try this again and if there rilly going to inforce it just like they don't seem to inforce the laws on Semi Trailers which some don't have have reflecter tape on them.

[quote="SRS125"just like they don't seem to enforce the laws on Semi Trailers which some don't have have reflecter tape on them.[/quote]
Semi's needed to be retrofitted by 2001. If some falls off, we get writen up by the DOT. I don't see them stopping trains & inspecting them, yet...

never know what the dot will do next. I did see a southern pacific loco with reflective lettering on it around 7:30p.m. today.

As funny as it is with all this reflective tape bit going on I saw a sea going ship on the st. Lawrence sea way a few years back with huge reflective letters I think it was www.csl.com or someting like that who on earth would have dreamed that one up? I know it was a canadian ship are they thinking that someone will break the gates and slam into it when the lift or swing bridge is open.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW I CAN TAKE PHOTOS AFTER DARK.

Now I know what those silly white squares are on the cabs of our locos and how they came to be.

If you should miss the blaring horn, strobes, headlights and ditchlights you're gonna notice one square foot of reflective tape?

Some people are so oblivious that they would not see the train if it was coming down the highway straight at them. But the main idea behind the reflectorization rule is to keep people from stuffing themselves into the side of a train at night, after the power has passed. There are still a lot of crossings with only crossbucks, no lights. If somebody is driving like hell at 2AM and does not realize there is a line of nice black coal hoppers going by, the feds are hoping these reflectors will wake them up. In some cases it will, and in some cases it won't.