Every year, about 2,400 serious injuries and deaths occur at railroad crossings. Of these, almost two-thirds occur during the day, even though there may be a full system of warning devices.
These facts may lead you to believe that driver error is responsible for all of these railroad crossing accidents and that, if you are ticketed for a crossing violation, you have very little chance of fighting it.
However, as an Alpharetta traffic violation defense attorney, I must disagree. You may have violated one of Georgia’s many railroad crossing laws for many reasons and still be innocent.
Let’s look at some of the reasons why:
- The way you see. The human eye tends to see larger objects as slower moving. Many drivers at crossings, especially those that have only flashing lights, may underestimate the speed of the train and proceed when it is not really safe to do so.
- The way warning signals are designed. The fact is that, very often, the warning signals at railroad crossings are much less effective than those at regular roadway intersections. For example, the red flashing lights are based on the fact that long ago, railroad workers swung red lanterns to warn of approaching trains. The red lights are just updates of that and are not as effective as other warning signals.
- Sunlight can make it impossible to see warning signals. Because the flashing lights are already difficult to see, the right amount of sunlight at the right angle can literally erase the flashing lights from your vision.
- Railroad crossing barriers can fail. In some cases, the big arms that drop when a train is coming can malfunction. They cannot come down at all, or get stuck in the down position, which leads to drivers crossing when there is no possible way a train is coming.
Of course there are many circumstances in which Georgia drivers simply choose to ignore the law and purposely break it. But when a huge train crashes into a passenger vehicle, the outcome is so horrendous that most of us are very careful at railroad crossings.
If you feel you have been unfairly ticketed for a railroad crossing violation, call the Law Office of Scott Miller today.
