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Issue 26

RAILROAD INDUSTRY AFFIRMS MAJOR FINDING OF ANGELS ON TRACK FOUNDATION REGARDING UPGRADED PROTECTION FROM AUTOMATED CROSSING GATES
By: Dr. Harvey A. Levine

In April 2006, the Foundation published a major report entitled, Gate It – Or Risk It; Why Automated Gates Are the Dominant Cause Of the Decline In Grade-Crossing Casualties. Like the title indicates, the report concluded that the major dominant factor behind the long-term trend of lessening grade-crossing accidents, was the installation of automated gates. This conclusion was at odds with the claim by Operation Lifesaver (a railroad and government funded so-called “education” organization) that it was responsible for “preventing 11,000 deaths and 54,000 injuries,” through its various programs – a claim that was made without supporting evidence. At the same time, the railroad industry and Operation Lifesaver had historically marginalized the impact of gates by not supporting their installation, helping to fund them, or recognizing their ability to mitigate the existence of motorist sight obstructions at railroad crossings. Just recently, the Foundation has uncovered evidence that shows its 2006 report (Gate It – Or Risk It) to be correct, and the long-held notions of the railroad industry and Operation Lifesaver, to be wrong. And oddly enough, the evidence has come from an arm of the railroad industry itself – and ironically, from the same 2006 year of the Foundation’s report.

On January 17, 2006, Peter W. French, Assistant Vice President – Safety & Performance Analysis, Association of American Railroads, published a statistical compendium entitled, U.S. Railroad Safety Statistics and Trends. Among other statistical tables, is one headed as, “Grade crossing warning device upgrades work. Gates cut the accident & fatality rates by 93%.” This conclusion was based on annual data published by the Federal Railroad Administration (as are the Foundation’s report and conclusion), accounting for the number of trains and motor vehicles travelling through each crossing. The same Peter French table updated to the year 2010 was employed by Michael Martino, Senior Director Operation, Association of American Railroads, in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Rail Transportation, on March 14, 2011. In essence, the railroad industry has apparently seen the light of day. It has belatedly recognized the obvious – that the federal and state governments have funded the installation of some 30,000 crossing gates over the past 35 years for good reason. And yet, throughout those years, the railroad industry has had no plan to determine the need for gate installations, and/or to share in the cost of such installations. Maybe it’s time for the railroad industry to put its money where its newfound mouth is.

 


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