Railroad crossings are an important site of potentially preventable accidents involving motorized vehicles.
Risk factors for a collision between a moving train and a motor vehicle:
(1) crossing-related
(2) train-related
(3) vehicle or traffic related
(4) driver-related
Crossing-related
(1) poor visibility at the crossing
(1a) excessive vegetation
(1b) blind curve
(1c) fog, rain or snow
(1d) night
(2) absence or malfunction of a warning signal
Train-related:
(1) fast moving train
(2) large volume of trains
(3) 2 or more trains coming one after another
Vehicle-related:
(1) vehicle stuck on the tracks
(1a) mechanical breakdown of vehicle
(1b) defect in road surface
(1c) caught between the rails
(2) high volume of traffic at the crossing
Driver-related
(1) intoxication
(2) poor vision
(3) driver error
(3a) trying to beat a train to a crossing ("when it is a tie a railroad crossing, you lose")
(3b) disregard for barriers (going around a barrier, etc)
(3c) poor decision
(4) intentional (suicide)
Specialty: Emergency Medicine, Critical Care
ICD-10: ,