§20161 Fostering Introduction of New Technology to Improve Safety at Highway-rail Grade Crossings

Summary

Encourages and lays out how new safety technology for highway-rail grade crossings is reviewed and approved. Collisions at railroad crossings still cause deaths, serious injuries, and damage. There are over 140,000 public crossings—about one per route mile. Traditional warnings like lights and gates often help, but many crossings still lack active systems even after more than $4,200,000,000 in Federal spending since the Highway Safety Act of 1973. New technologies could help. Using them will need cooperation between highway authorities and railroads, and the Federal Railroad Administration rules and Federal Highway Administration guidance offer a framework for testing and user interface. Railroad carriers and suppliers may send new crossing technology to the Secretary of Transportation for review. The Secretary must approve by order technology that meets Federal Railroad Administration standards for processor-based signal and train control systems and that properly considers how road users will interact with it. If approved and installed under the approval’s conditions, that federal approval overrides any State law or rule about whether the technology is an adequate warning.