Enhanced Traffic Control Devices and Railroad Operations for Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings: First-Year Activities (1469-1)

This research identified and analyzed contributing factors to train-involved crashes in Texas. A detailed literature review was performed to investigate driver expectancy and experience, driver knowledge of highway-railroad grade crossings, human factors issues, driver attitudes, and crash investigations of train involved crashes. Warning activation technologies were investigated to determine their effect on crashes at the crossings. The contributing factors for three years of crash data were classified as railroad factors, environmental factors, roadway factors, and driver/passenger factors. The frequency distributions for these crashes were compared to corresponding national and statewide crash frequency distributions. Hypotheses were formulated and tested to relate potentially contributing human, geometric, and other factors to crashes at highway-railroad grade crossings.|The five most frequently identified primary contributing factors were; tried to beat train; impaired driver; stuck, stalled, or stopped on tracks; driving around gates; and driver inattention. The findings of the crash analysis revealed that a greater proportion of male drivers are involved in "tried to beat the train" crashes, semi-tractor trailers and trucks with trailers are more frequently involved in crashes where intersection proximity is the primary contributing factor, and the average severity of crashes occurring at passive crossings is greater than the average severity of crashes occurring at active crossings.