[TITLE: RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNS | PASS A ROAD TEST SMART]
Hi there smart drivers. Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you today about
the railway sign and railway crossings.
When I moved to BC's interior a couple of years ago, I was stationed in
Kamloops, BC, Canada to do some training and I have to say that up to that point I'd
lived in Ontario and Australia, and trains and railway crossings in terms of
driving had been more or less off my radar. Most of the ones in the east and
most of the ones in Australia have been torn up.
So railway crossings didn't really feature much in my driving; however, in
Kamloops, BC railway crossings are a big deal. And where the school was
there in Kamloops was not too far from the railway crossings. You had to go over
the railway tracks just as soon as you came out of the school. The student stops
behind the railway tracks and waits for the light to go green. On the green he proceeds
up to the intersection. As soon as he gets to the intersection, the light goes red.
He stops and the trailer is hanging back over two sets of railway tracks.
Fortunately nothing happened, but I'll tell you, it was a few tense moments of
sitting on railway tracks in a town where you don't know when the trains are
coming. We'll be right back to talk to you about railway crossings.
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Hi there smart drivers. Rick with Smart Drive Test - welcome back. Today we're
talking to you about railway crossings and the railway sign. One of the reasons
that trains are so dangerous is because trains don't keep schedules.
You don't know when they're going to show up. And the other thing that you
need to know about trains especially for a road test -
trains have the right of way. You need to give trains the right away. 50 to 60
people in Canada are still killed every year by trains. In the United States you
can multiply that number by ten and you'll probably come up with a fairly
reasonable number for the number of people that are still killed in the United
States by trains every year.
Half the people who are killed by trains are killed at night. They run into the
side of the trains because they don't see them. And the other significant
portion of people who are killed in car-train crashes are because there's
multiple tracks and one of the trains is hidden by the other train. So
they don't see the train, drive onto the tracks, and are hit. Many railway
crossings have cautionary signs that warn you beforehand that there's going
to be a railway crossing. There might be road markings. All railway crossings that
intersect with roadways have some sort of control.
This railway crossing has a stop sign. They may also have lights and gates. If
there's a gate and the lights are flashing, you cannot proceed until the
gate goes up.
You must wait - don't get on the track and have the gate come down on your car.
I've seen that happen too. As well, stop 15 meters from the railway crossing.
If you're parking near a railway crossing - 15 meters or 50 feet from the railway
crossing. If you're stopping near railway crossings: five meters from the track;
no farther than 50 meters back. So 15 to 50 feet away from the railway crossing.
For the purposes of a road test if you're driving a manual transmission -
do not shift over railway tracks. It's a major demerit on a road test.
Finally, if you're unfortunate enough on a railway crossing to have your vehicle
break down or you get stuck on the tracks for whatever reason,
get clear of the vehicle and get all passengers out of the vehicle as quickly
as possible.
Move at least 30 meters or a hundred feet away from the railway tracks and
call 911 or call the local police. As well, as you can see here in the image
the location of the crossing is right on the railway sign. It'll either be on the
front as it is here, or it'll be on the back side of the railway sign - so the
exact location. So when you call emergency services, make sure you have
the location so they can send people out as quickly as possible to remove your
vehicle off the railway crossing or whomever might be.
We all have cell phones in this day and age, so make sure you have that
information to help out emergency services, so they can get you off the
railway crossings as quickly as possible. I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test. Thanks
very much for watching. If you like what you see here
share, subscribe, leave a comment down in the comment section.
All that helps us out. Question for my smart drivers: were you ever unfortunate
enough that your vehicle broke down on a railway track? If it did, leave the story
down in the comments there. All those stories help us out and help drivers out
in case they find themselves in the same situation.
Thanks very much for watching. Remember pick the best answer not necessarily the
right answer.
Have a great day. Bye now.
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