Texas Railroad Crossing Accidents

If you have been involved in a train crossing accident then attorneys at The Lapeze Firm can help. It is important to consult an attorney quickly after a train crossing accident occurs so that evidence of the accident can be documented and preserved. Use the form on this page or call 888-739-5210 now to consult with our legal staff at no charge.

Texas has thousands of intersections where train tracks and roads cross. Only about half of these intersections have warning devices. To make matters worse, train crossings may have vegetation or structures that obstruct the view of oncoming trains. In 2003 the Association of American Railroads testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the matter of train crossing safety. An excerpt from that testimony is below.

"Despite the fact that accidents continue to occur at crossings with active warning devices, it is clear that at crossings with higher accident potential, an active warning device can improve safety. However, the high cost of current active warning devices - approximately $150,000, on average, per installation - has limited the number of crossings at which they have been installed. Today, approximately 59 percent of the approximately 154,000 public highway-rail grade crossings do not have active warning devices..."

Source: Association of American Railroads before the U.S. House of Representatives

http://www.texasrailadvocates.org/AAR-Testimony-03-06-2003.pdf

Train Crossings With No Warning Signal

Texas has more train crossing collisions, injuries, and fatalities than any other state. With more than twelve thousand miles of track, much of it in rural areas with no warning devices, this may not come as a surprise. Train crossings are sometimes referred to as HRI's, an acronym for Highway Railroad Intersections, as in the excerpt below from a report by the Texas Transportation Institute on the subject of Texas train crossings.

"Texas, with more than 12,000 miles of railroad track, has the nation's largest concentration of HRIs - and the highest number of collisions, injuries and fatalities...

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, also the chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine, recently noted that American motorists are 40 percent more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision involving another motor vehicle."

Source: Texas Transportation Institute

http://tti.tamu.edu/publications/researcher/newsletter.htm

If you have been affected by a railroad crossing accident then contact our attorneys now for a free legal case review by completing the form on this page or by calling 888-739-5210. You may be eligible to receive compensation for your injuries and our attorneys can help.