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Why Has Safety Improved at Rail‐Highway Grade Crossings?

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Listed:
  • Shannon C. Mok
  • Ian Savage

Abstract

The number of collisions and fatalities at rail‐highway intersections in the United States has declined significantly over the past 30 years, despite considerable increases in the volume of rail and highway traffic. This article disaggregates the improvement into its constituent causes. Negative binomial regressions are conducted on a pooled data set for 49 states from 1975 to 2001. The analysis concludes that about two‐fifths of the decrease is due to factors such as reduced drunk driving and improved emergency medical response that have improved safety on all parts of the highway network. The installation of gates and/or flashing lights accounts for about a fifth of the reduction. The development in the 1970s and early 1980s of the Operation Lifesaver public education campaign, and the installation of additional lights on locomotives in the mid 1990s, each led to about a seventh of the reduction. Finally, about a tenth is due to closure of crossings resulting from line abandonments or consolidation of little‐used crossings.

Suggested Citation

  • Shannon C. Mok & Ian Savage, 2005. "Why Has Safety Improved at Rail‐Highway Grade Crossings?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 867-881, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:25:y:2005:i:4:p:867-881
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00642.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cameron, A Colin & Trivedi, Pravin K, 1986. "Econometric Models Based on Count Data: Comparisons and Applications of Some Estimators and Tests," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 1(1), pages 29-53, January.
    2. Hausman, Jerry & Hall, Bronwyn H & Griliches, Zvi, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 909-938, July.
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    1. Gbban, Abdulrhman M. & Kamruzzaman, Md. & Delbosc, Alexa & Coxon, Selby, 2023. "The wider barrier effects of public transport infrastructure: The case of level crossings in Melbourne," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Junayed Pasha & Maxim A. Dulebenets & Olumide F. Abioye & Masoud Kavoosi & Ren Moses & John Sobanjo & Eren E. Ozguven, 2020. "A Comprehensive Assessment of the Existing Accident and Hazard Prediction Models for the Highway-Rail Grade Crossings in the State of Florida," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-27, May.
    3. Afkhami, Payam & Khayamim, Razieh & Li, Bokang & Borowska-Stefańska, Marta & Wiśniewski, Szymon & Fathollahi-Fard, Amir M. & Lau, Yui-yip & Dulebenets, Maxim A., 2025. "Resource allocation approaches for improving safety and operations at level crossings: State of the art, existing challenges, and future research needs," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 257(PA).
    4. French, Michael & Gumus, Gulcin, 2024. "Hit-and-Run or Hit-and-Stay? Unintended Effects of a Stricter BAC Limit," IZA Discussion Papers 16774, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Masoud Kavoosi & Maxim A. Dulebenets & Junayed Pasha & Olumide F. Abioye & Ren Moses & John Sobanjo & Eren E. Ozguven, 2020. "Development of Algorithms for Effective Resource Allocation among Highway–Rail Grade Crossings: A Case Study for the State of Florida," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-28, March.

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