Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-09-20
PREVENTION GRADE
CROSSING ACCIDENTS

VbtOOVtlvO HOVuO6lvuV
The prevention Of grade crossing
accidents presents one Of the grav.
est problems with which the Safety
departments Of railroads are con-
fronted. Never before in the history
of the roads has there been such a
large number of accidents at points
where public highways cross the
tracks of our railroads at grade.
This condition. of course, results
from the enormous increase In the
manufacture and use Of automobiles.
The automobile as sold in the market
today is reasonably safe vehicle.
but. as in the case Of our engines.
cars, ETC., when placed in the hands
of careless and reckless drivers. they
become extremely dangerous ma
chimes. 1t is not necessary for US to
attempt explain the causes for au-
tomobile accidents on crossings,
which are increasing in leaps and
bounds all over the country. The
story of why these disasters occur,
the suffering and loss of life that in
the majority of cases follow. are all
too we'll known by every railroad
man. There is nearly always a teie-
gram or file Of papers on his desk
that reminds him Of these horrible
occurrences.
The chief question before US is,
How are we to prevent these acct
dents? 1t is a problem which we are
sure Is interesting to everyone. In
some states. laws have been enacted
requiring automobile drivers to come
to full stop a certain distance from
the tracks, and look and listen in
both directions. This is known as
the stop, Look and Listen" Law.
the intents and purposes of which
are excellent, but the main difficulty
has been lack Of enforcement, and q
law that is not observed Is as bad or
| worse than none at all. Some lines
have advertised in the newspapers
preaching against reckless driving
ever railroad crossings, others are
constantly getting out posters and
bulletins which are given wide dis
tribution. These have all doubtless
had some effect.
In this connection we quote from
an article which appeared in the
Portland Express Advertiser July O.:
The driver Of an automobile
should never go over a grade rail-
road crossing without first looking to
the right and left to see II anything
is coming, or without throttling his
engine down so as to be able to hear
the whistle Of an approaching train.
In the case Of a blind crossing the
car should be stopped at the edge Of
the tracks SO II a train 10 coming the
noise of its approach can be heard
even IL the engineer fails to blow his
whistle. When one is sure that the
way is clear. throw the car into gear
and go over the tracks with sufficient
speed so that IL 1t stalls It will have
enough momentum to carry 1t across.
II. however, the car does stop on the
railroad. have everyone in II get out
at once and Off the tracks. and allow
no one but the driver to enter the
car again until 1t Is safely across.
Under no circumstances should q
person assume that the speed OF his
0uIOHlOUllC 10 SOAh6 ~ toAo AAAAh SvSt
in safety because q train sounds some
distance away. Sound Is deceitful
and trains travel at tremendous
speed. Never take a chance. Never
race up a grade approaching q rail-
road track. It Is far better to fail to
climb 1t on high gear and live than 1t
is to go rushing onto the tracks with
out ascertaining the danger and be
struck by a train. Observe all sig
nails carefully and by SO doing the
man on the road will De performing
his part and at the same time will be
making it easier for the engineers Of
the trains to whom unprotected rail-
road crossings are one Of the great
est sources of worry"
Ensinemen are required to keep a
proper look out and to give warnings
nv sounding the whistle and ringing
the bell when approaching crossings.
and the railroads are doing every =
thing possible to prevent accidents Of
this kind.
At all crossings where there arc
watchmen. a stop disc is used by day
and a white light by night as a dan
! ger signal, and should be religious'y
observed. Crossing tenders have
been instructed to make report OF
all automobiles which approach their
crossings at a dangerous rate OF
sneed. or who fail to respect the
warming signal, and this information
will be given to the Secretary OF
state or Commissioner OF Motor We
bic,es. with request that appropriate
action be taken 70 put a stop TO this
dangerous practice. At points where
automatic fagmen or crossing bells
90 installed. automobiles should
nsver attempt to cross the track
when the bell is ringing or the signal
g. working. as there Is only an inter.
va, of about Is seconds from the time
tbe bell begins to ring until the tratr
sas cbes the crossing. Whistiing
nosts are located approximately one
sourth of a mile from the CROSSING
and a train travelling at a speed OF
70 miles per hour will cover the DIS.
tance between the whistle post anu
the crossing in about 20 seconds.