This is Railroad Safety Week and a common misconception when it comes to trains, is that they can stop quickly. Take a 100 car freight train, empty, traveling 50 miles per hour. How long do you think it would take to get fully stopped. Too long for you to be hanging out on the tracks.
A loaded coal train going 40 miles per hour will take two and a half miles to stop. Don’t take a chance. If you see tracks, expect a train. Every three hours in the U. S. a vehicle gets hit by a train. More than 2,300 people are injured or killed every year at rail crossings, the majority of accidents happen at crossings that are equipped with lights and gates. If you see tracks, expect a train.
