Why does everyone slow down for railroad crossings

And I'm not talking the CP & LE railroad.

In Oregon, when we cross over train tracks, we don't slow down. We keep going whatever speed we were already going.

Right now, I'm in Ohio for my second season working at Cedar Point, and I've noticed that people slow down to about 10-15 MPH when crossing over train tracks, and I've never understood the logic of doing so.

The way I see it, if slowing down is to double-check that a train is coming, that's not going to be effective. If you go over the tracks, then notice "OH @#$%!! A train *IS* coming and the gates didn't go down!" then you have to accelerate, and you'll have spent more time on the tracks and in the train's path than if you just continued.

Its also much rougher, IMO, to go over the tracks slowly. Its a lot less bumpy going 35 MPH than 15 MPH over those train tracks.

Then if you have an old unreliable car that stalls, you're more likely to run into the possibility of stalling out on the tracks if you slow down to cross them.

So...can someone please tell me the purpose for slowing down to cross train tracks?

-DJ

I dive under the little hanging things on the CP & LE crossings, hehe.

Anyway, this is way off topic. In my state, it's the law that you have to slow down to 20 MPH when crossing rail roads. Also, public transportation vehicles (like buses) have to stop. So, this is probably a law in Ohio. Also, isn't it a law that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon (or Washington, I can't rememeber at this hour)? What's up with all these weird laws?

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There are alot of retarded laws that is why laws were ment to be broken.

-Doug-

p.s. people that actually dive under the cp&le gates are retarded and dont deserve to be in the park

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*** This post was edited by psycho691371 6/6/2003 2:14:04 AM ***

Your name suits you. You criticize someone for diving under the crossing gates right after you say that laws were meant to be broken?

Simply put, if you're infamiliar with the crossing, there's a good chance it's a very rough crossing. Ohio weather does some nasty things to them, so unless they're well maintained, you might just cause damage to your suspension at high speed. It has nothing to do with whether or not a train is coming.

I used to cross two sets of tracks on the way to a former job. The one I could fly over, no problem, as it had the nice steel plates between the rails and was smooth. The other was asphalt, and uneven as hell after three months of winter.

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Jeff
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*** This post was edited by Jeff 6/6/2003 9:12:46 AM ***

We slow doen for railroad corssings becasue it is less wear and tear on our cars as far as I know it is not a law that you have to slow down (I could be wrong) for railroad crossings. As for those who dive under the hanging thingies you guys are stupid I saw someone do that and almost got hit by the train behavior like that is cause for dismissal from the park with no refunds so burn that into the front row of your brains.

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*** This post was edited by Crow_T._Robot 6/6/2003 9:20:45 AM ***

"Burn that into the front row of your brains." Now there is something I can honestly say I have never heard before.

i for one do not slow down for crossings and agree with you dj. (i'm from indiana). i may slow down a little if it looks like it's a nasty one...but i agree that going faster you only hit it once as opposed to hitting it again and again. and...diving under the crossing arms is FREAKIN STUPID. YOU CAN WAIT THE 30 SECONDS IT TAKES FOR THE TRAIN TO GO BY.

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Snake River Falls 03 (newbie)

There's a crossing near me that when you go 40 over it (the speed limit), the whole car bounces, but at 20 it's not bad at all. It all depends on how bad the crossing is.

At most crossings, I go the limit over them.... ok, I go 5 or 10 over the limit on them. But when I know the crossing's poorly maintained, or has a history of failing to function properly, I slow down.

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Speaking from expierence, I recommend anyone that DOESN'T know about a crossing slow down to go over it.

One time we hit an unkown crossing at 50. It was a hill big enough to put us airborn. When the Blazer we were in landed, it broke the park pin (The landing made the driver hit the shifter with his knee into park), cracked the battery, and ruined the tires.

There are crossings here in Ohio that will cause MAJOR DAMAGE to your car if you hit them going 50, so if you don't know, your best bet is to slow down.

Also, some of our crossings don't have lights or gates. Anyone who doesn't slow down and look both ways for them may become a statistic.

If you've ever been in a car that the rear bumper got torn off by a train, you'll slow down as well. We got turned (spun) around, and wound up facing the train from about three feet away. No light, no horn! The engineer, apparently, fell asleep right before dusk. It was one of those crossing with only a crossbuck sign. No gates, no lights, and no bell! We all re-evaluated our method for approaching rail crossings. I, for one, damn near stop when it's dark out. I pretty much go through all the stuff a school bus goes through at a crossing.

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