Us Code § 20161 - Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highway-rail grade crossings
Full text of Us Code United States Code § 20161 — Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highway-rail grade crossings, with citation guidance and answers to common questions.
§ 20161. Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highway-rail grade crossings
(a)
(1) Collisions between highway users and trains at highway-rail grade crossings continue to cause an unacceptable loss of life, serious personal injury, and property damage.
(2) While elimination of at-grade crossings through consolidation of crossings and grade separations offers the greatest long-term promise for optimizing the safety and efficiency of the two modes of transportation, over 140,000 public grade crossings remain on the general rail system—approximately one for each route mile on the general rail system.
(3) Conventional highway traffic control devices such as flashing lights and gates are often effective in warning motorists of a train's approach to an equipped crossing.
(4) Since enactment of the Highway Safety Act of 1973, over $4,200,000,000 of Federal funding has been invested in safety improvements at highway-rail grade crossings, yet a majority of public highway-rail grade crossings are not yet equipped with active warning systems.
(5) The emergence of new technologies presents opportunities for more effective and affordable warnings and safer passage of highway users and trains at remaining highway-rail grade crossings.
(6) Implementation of new crossing safety technology will require extensive cooperation between highway authorities and railroad carriers.
(7) Federal Railroad Administration regulations establishing performance standards for processor-based signal and train control systems provide a suitable framework for qualification of new or novel technology at highway-rail grade crossings, and the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices provides an appropriate means of determining highway user interface with such new technology.
(b)
(c)
(d)
(Added Pub. L. 110–432, div. A, title II, §210(a), Oct. 16, 2008, 122 Stat. 4876.)
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Highway Safety Act of 1973, referred to in subsec. (a)(4), is title II of Pub. L. 93–87, Aug. 13, 1973, 87 Stat. 282. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1973 Amendment note set out under section 401 of Title 23, Highways, and Tables.
About This Section
49 U.S.C. § 20161 is part of Title 49 of the United States Code. The United States Code is the official codification of federal statutes maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress amends the Code through new public laws, which are eventually incorporated into the relevant title.
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