A human factors commentary on innovations at railroad-highway grade crossings in Autralia

Problem: In the decade 1970–1979, some 537 persons were killed in Australia in crashes between motor vehicles and trains at railway crossings. Method: A study of 85 consecutive crossing deaths showed that flashing light signals provided an inadequate stimulus at busy metropolitan crossings, while field studies at rural crossings showed that many drivers behaved similarly at both active and passive crossings. This suggested the need for different signs at the two types of crossings. Results: The number of motor-vehicle occupants killed at railroad highway grade crossings in the 1990–1999 decade in Australia was 172 — a reduction of 68% from the 1970–1979 total. Discussion: Most of this paper is devoted to the recent change in advance warning signs at passive crossings. Because of the small volumes of both road and rail traffic, it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of these or other innovations at passive crossings. The paper ends with a plea for the development of some reliable surrogate measures that can be used for this purpose.