(The Department of Transportation issued the following news release on November 6.)
WASHINGTON — A proposed rule to enhance safety by establishing specific requirements for the placement of reflective material on freight railcars was announced today by Federal Railroad Administrator Allan Rutter.
The large size of rail freight cars can cover a motorist’s entire field of view, making them difficult to detect. Limited visibility at night, dusk, dawn, and during adverse weather conditions also can make it difficult for motorist to see dark-colored rail cars. As a result, a motorist’s ordinary expectation may be dangerously altered. FRA research indicates that safety may be improved by placing reflective material on the train itself, since it can aid drivers in better judging a train’s distance and relative state of motion.
“About one quarter of all highway-rail crossing collisions involve a motor vehicle striking a train. We have learned that in many cases, motorists do not see trains moving or stopped, blocking highway-rail crossings,” Administrator Rutter said. “In proposing this action, we have taken into account numerous considerations raised by the railroad industry and others, and believe real safety benefits can be achieved while minimizing the cost to railroads and the nation’s private car owners.”
In 1982, the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) conducted a study to determine if reflective materials would substantially increase the visibility of rail freight cars to motor vehicle drivers. That study concluded that even though reflectors improved visibility, contemporary reflective material would not withstand harsh railroad operating environments.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the brightness, durability, and adhesive properties of reflective material significantly improved. In 1999, the Volpe Center published another report on freight car reflectorization. Results from this research indicated that new micro prismatic retroreflective materials provided adequate luminance intensity levels that could last for up to ten years.
The Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act of 1994 required the Federal Railroad Administration to address the issue of railcar visibility. A docket (FRA-1999-6689) containing the NPRM, research reports, workshop transcripts, a preliminary cost-benefit analysis, comments from the reflector, truck, automobile, and rail industries, as well as the public, is available on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s online docket management system (DMS) at Http://DMS.DOT.GOV. Comments on the NPRM may also be submitted through the online DMS website.