01128797

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2122-09

http://scholar.google.com...ttak&publication_year=2009

This paper attempts to answer two questions pertaining to highway–railroad grade crossing (HRGC) safety. First, does unsafe driver behavior differ at HRGCs located in two cities? Second, is there a difference in drivers’ response to the same safety treatment at two HRGCs? The two HRGCs investigated are in Waverly and Fremont, Nebraska. Unsafe behaviors investigated at both locations were passing around closing or closed gates and making U-turns while waiting for trains to pass. The safety treatment used at the HRGCs was a barrier installed along the street center leading up to the gates that made it difficult for drivers to engage in unsafe maneuvers. Analysis of the collected data showed that drivers in Waverly engaged in more frequent gate passing compared with drivers in Fremont. Conversely, drivers in Fremont more frequently made U-turns at HRGCs. Installation of the barrier reduced gate passing and U-turns at both locations; the percentage of reductions in gate passing and U-turns at the two locations were comparable. Based on the results, the conclusions are that drivers’ unsafe behavior at HRGCs is location-dependent, but the order of magnitude of drivers’ response to the same safety treatment at different locations is quite similar.

01147425

09-1584

English

pp 72-77

2009

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309142519

Print

Photos (4) ; References (12) ; Tables (4)

Barriers (Roads); Behavior; Drivers; Grade crossing protection systems; Railroad grade crossings; Risk taking; Traffic safety; U turns

Fremont (Nebraska); Waverly (Nebraska)

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 30 2009 5:49PM

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