9.3 Railroad Crossing Procedures

9.3 Railroad Crossing Procedures

Quick Answer: Do not expect every device at every crossing. Crossbucks mark the tracks. Alone, treat them as a yield and stop if a train is approaching. Crossbuck plus stop sign: complete stop, then proceed only after you are certain no train is coming. Bells, flashing lights, or gates: stop until the warning is canceled or a law enforcement officer or railroad flagman directs you. Some vehicles must always stop not closer than 15 feet or farther than 50 feet from the nearest rail: passenger-for-hire vehicles, school buses, and vehicles carrying explosives or flammable liquids (exception: abandoned tracks with appropriate signs, or tracks removed). It is illegal to drive around a down gate. Never race a train. Never start across unless you can clear without stopping. Stall: everyone out immediately. Train approaching: about 20 seconds after lights flash and the gate lowers; run at a 45-degree angle away from the tracks toward the oncoming train, then 911. No train: call ENS on the blue sign first, then 911. Do not pass within 100 feet of a crossing.

Railroad crossings sit in Indiana Driver's Manual Chapter 7, with advance circular railroad signs and crossbucks already covered in Chapter 6. The knowledge exam tests the procedure, not just the shape of the sign. Passing rules in Chapter 6 also ban passing within 100 feet of a railroad crossing; this section is where that limit protects a driver who cannot see a train.

Not every crossing has every device

Special signs, signals, and pavement markings warn and regulate drivers at railroad crossings, although you should not expect to see all these devices used at every railroad crossing. A quiet country crossing may have only a crossbuck. A busy urban crossing may have lights, bells, and gates. Missing lights are not permission to roll through.

Crossbucks mark the location of the tracks.

A yield-style crossbuck is still a hard stop when a locomotive is coming. A stop-sign crossing is a full stop even if the rails look empty from one angle. Active warning is not a "peek and go" around the gate.

Vehicles that must always stop: 15 to 50 feet

Some vehicles are required by law to always stop at railroad crossings not closer than 15 feet or farther than 50 feet from the nearest rail. That requirement does not apply to abandoned railroad tracks where appropriate signs have been placed or the tracks crossing the roadway have been removed.

Vehicles that must stop include:

• All vehicles carrying passengers for hire
• All school buses
• All vehicles carrying explosives or flammable liquids

If you are in a passenger car behind a school bus or tanker, expect that full stop. Do not pass it in the last 100 feet. If you later drive a bus or a for-hire van, 15-to-50 is your stop box — not on the ties, and not so far back that a following driver cannot see why you stopped.

Safety rules at the rails

• It is illegal to drive around a crossing gate that is down.
• Obey all warning signs and devices. Train size makes speed deceiving. Under no circumstances should you attempt to race a train to a crossing.
• Avoid stopping or shifting gears while crossing. Never begin to cross unless the tracks can be cleared without stopping. If the vehicle stalls on the tracks, all occupants should immediately leave the vehicle.
• Look for the emergency notification sign with contact information to call the railroad about a blocked crossing, and contact 911.
• Watch for additional trains. Where there is more than one track, after the first train clears you must make sure another train is not coming on the other track. A train may also be proceeding in the opposite direction behind the first train. Multi-track plaques (for example, 2 TRACKS) are a reminder, not a complete inventory you can skip scanning.
• Be aware of local quiet zones where locomotive horns are not sounded by approaching trains at some gated crossings. No horn is not "no train."
• Some trains operate on tracks in the middle of streets. Traffic signals flash red in all directions to indicate an approaching train. Treat that indication like any other crossing warning.
• Do not pass another vehicle within 100 feet of a railroad crossing.

Disabled on the tracks: train versus no train

Once the crossing lights begin to flash and the gate begins to lower, you have approximately 20 seconds to escape from the crossing.

If you or another motorist are stuck on the tracks and a train is approaching:

1. Evacuate the area and tell others to do the same.
2. Run at a 45-degree angle away from the tracks in the direction of the oncoming train. That angle takes you off the rails and out of the path of debris thrown forward along the track if the locomotive hits the vehicle.
3. After you have cleared the vicinity, call 911 and report the problem.

If the vehicle is disabled on the crossing, or you see an obstruction, and no train is approaching:

1. Immediately call the Emergency Notification System (ENS). The phone number is on the blue sign attached to the railroad track crossing gate. Tell them exactly what obstruction is present and your location.
2. After you have notified ENS, call 911 and report the problem.

Do not reverse those calls when no train is in sight. ENS reaches the railroad so they can stop or warn trains; 911 then brings local emergency response. Do not stay in a stalled car to "steer it off" once lights and gates have started — about 20 seconds is not enough to diagnose a stall.

Indiana scenarios

Rural crossbuck, no lights. You see the crossbucks only. You yield. A headlight is coming down the rails: you stop. You do not assume the missing gate means the crossing is unused.

School bus on SR 37. The bus stops 15 to 50 feet from the nearest rail. You stop behind it. You do not pass within 100 feet of the crossing.

Quiet-zone gates in a suburb. No horn sounds. Gates are down. Driving around them is illegal. You wait until the warning is canceled or an officer or railroad flagman directs you.

Stall on two tracks, train coming. Lights flash, gate dropping, about 20 seconds. Everyone out. You run at a 45-degree angle toward the oncoming train, off the tracks, then 911. You do not run down the rails away from the locomotive.

Stall, no train visible. You call ENS from the blue sign on the gate, give the location and obstruction, then call 911. You still get everyone out of the vehicle.

Street-running train downtown. Signals flash red in all directions. You treat it as a crossing warning, not as a broken traffic light you can creep through.

Exam traps

• Expecting lights and gates at every crossing.
• Treating crossbucks alone as a stop sign, or treating them as a free roll even with a train approaching.
• Assuming a stop-sign crossing is clear because you did not hear a horn (quiet zones exist).
• Stopping a bus or tanker on the rail, or closer than 15 feet, or farther than 50 feet.
• Driving around a down gate.
• Starting across a crossing you cannot clear without stopping.
• Staying in a stalled vehicle, or running straight away from the train instead of at a 45-degree angle toward it.
• Calling 911 before ENS when no train is approaching.
• Passing within 100 feet of the crossing, or forgetting a second train on another track.

Yield at a lone crossbuck, full-stop at a stop sign, freeze at active warning, keep the 15-to-50-foot box for required vehicles, and if you stall, get out on the 45-degree path toward the train.