Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
time off and professional counseling to crews involved in fatal
accidents. For a very few, however, the experience is enough to
force them out of their chosen profession. (More on this very
serious problem can be found in chapter 7, “Who's in Charge
Here?”)
Here are a few commonsense rules for automobile drivers:
• Always assume a train is coming (the same way you would
anticipate another car coming if you were crossing a highway).
• Slow down, roll down the window, and listen. You can't hear
the train if your window's closed or the radio's blaring.
• Never, ever ignore active warning signals or drive around
lowered gates. (This isn't as obvious as it sounds. A driver
may see a switch engine parked a hundred yards down the
track to the left and assume that's what brought the gate
down. Big mistake! It could be another train approaching at
high speed from the right.)
• Where there's more than one track, wait a bit when the train
passes and watch out for a second train that could becoming
from the opposite direction behind the first one.
• Don't be tempted to race a train to the crossing, even if it
looks like a safe bet. Because of their enormous size, trains
appear to be traveling much slower than they really are. Have
you ever watched a Boeing 747 on its final approach to an
airport? It looks like it's just floating lazily along when, in
fact, the plane is moving at 170 miles per hour.
• Don't ever stop your car on a train track. If traffic's backed
up, wait until there's room on the other side before you cross
over. If your car happens to stall on the track, get everyone out
immediately and call the police. They'll contact the railroad's
dispatcher, who will alert the engineer of any approaching
train by radio.
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