Expert Advice When You Need It Most

Train Accidents Statistics

Written by: Jon Mitchell Jackson

Reputation Level 14

Personal Injury

Posted over 3 years ago. Applies to California, 1 helpful vote, 0 comments

Save

Share with:

Train Accident Statistics

Every hundred (100) minutes, someone in America dies as a result of being struck by a train. The occupant of a motor vehicle that collides with a train, is forty (40) times more likely to die, than if they had collided with another motor vehicle. Out of the more than 300,000 rail grade crossings in the United States, more than 80% of all public railroad crossings don’t have lights and gates; one third of these crossings have no active warning device of any kind. Motorists are made unknowingly susceptible by the liability of an approaching train. Warning time is often minimal to nonexistent.

More Than Half of Train Accidents Happen at Unprotected Crossings

More than half of all railroad mishaps occur at these unprotected crossings. For those lucky enough to survive, the injuries sustained are typically life threatening, requiring extensive surgical intervention, many necessitating amputation. Thus the type of injury which results from a motor vehicle colliding with a train or a child playing on or around a railroad track only emphasizes the need for limited access to railway areas and increased warning devices. Trains cannot stop in time to prevent a collision from occurring. For while an automobile traveling fifty (50) miles per hour requires approximately fifty (50) feet to come to a stop, it takes a train over a mile and a half to stop traveling from the same rate of speed.