Would a train ever stop for pedestrians?

Question

Let’s say if you were crossing across the railroad tracks and a train was coming then you couldn’t get out of the way and if you were stuck or didn’t hear a train coming, will the train ever stop and will the driver of the train see you? What if you wave your hand up and try to cross so you can get by just like you would with a car coming, what if you can’t hurry up and you are an older person trying to cross the railroad tracks? Will the driver of the train get sued for killing a pedestrian? If not, why? I was told a train will never stop for pedestrians and you really have to be extremely careful crossing or driving across railroad tracks. What do you do if you can’t get out of the way and if your shoe lace is stuck on something on the railroad tracks and if a train was about to come and I had 5 seconds to get out of the way, then what? How will the driver of the train ever see you or stop?

If it was a car or bus and you waved your hand, the driver will have to stop for pedestrians crossing because they have the right of way but why wouldn’t pedestrians have the right of way to go first and for the train to stop for pedestrians crossing across the railroad tracks?
Would you really get killed if a train hits you?

Answer 1

It is not that a train won't stop - but that it can't stop for a pedestrian on the track. If a train driver saw a person on the track he would certainly apply the brakes - but unless it was a very long section of straight track, and the driver had spotted the person from a very long way off, it would be physically impossible for the train to stop in time. A train isn't like a car, which can stop in a few yards - they take a long time to come to a halt from high speed.



No train driver will ever be prosecuted for hitting a pedestrian - unless the driver had failed to stop for a red light and had thereby crashed into a level crossing where there were people crossing.

Answer 2

By the time a train driver had seen you and it registered that he was looking at a person standing on the track (about 1/4 second) it would be too late to stop unless he was travelling at walking pace (about 4mph)..



Any train travelling at normal speeds would take between 400 yards and 1 3/4 mile to stop.



These stopping distances are long because of basic laws of physics:-



a) the momentum of a large heavy object moving at high speed; and



b) trains have steel wheels on steel rails so the coefficient of friction is much lower than a car tyre on a tarmac road, therefore it cannot brake by "locking" the wheels or it would slide out of control and take about twice the distance to stop.



A pedestrian hit by a train would certainly suffer serious injury. If it was just a "clip" then the pedestrian would probably get a broken arm and/or shoulder. If it was a hit on more than just a limb then death is almost certain. If it was a full-on hit then death would be inevitable.



If you get your shoelace or anything else trapped in a track fitting then you must immediately pull the shoe off and get away until you are 100% certain that another train isn't coming.



If you are in a vehicle that stalls on the crossing then put it in 1st gear and use the starter motor to get it off the crossing. This will flatten your battery and may damage the starter but it's better than having the car wreaked by a train. If it doesn't get off the line then get out and phone the signalman on the line side phone (or dial 999 if there isn't a railway phone nearby).



A train driver will not be prosecuted and cannot be sued for hitting a pedestrian who wandered or stood on the line in front of the train in normal service unless there were very special circumstances (such as, he was drunk or on drugs and had passed a signal at "danger").

Answer 3

The railroad is private property, pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. They are breaking the law if they are on the tracks. If someone is on the tracks and unable to move the train engineer will try and stop, but that is not likely to happen. All that means is that the mangled body eill be under the middle of the train when it stops.

You can wave your hand or any other body part you like, that train is NOT stopping for you.

And if it hits you, you will be dead.

Answer 4

No. You may be able to do this with road vehicles, but the difference with a train is that by the time the driver sees you, it's already too late for him to stop. That is why (in the UK, at least) it is illegal to cross train tracks except at dedicated crossings, where a signaller can be alerted if necessary.



As for a train hitting you - it depends on how it hits you and how fast it is going. If you were clipped by a train going at 10mph, it would hurt, but probably wouldn't kill you unless you went under the train's wheels. If you were hit full on by a train doing 125mph, death is a certainty. Your body would disintegrate and bits of you would be splattered everywhere over a wide area. The driver would be traumatised, and the train company would need to take the train to the depot so they could wash all the brain, guts and blood from the train with a hose.

Answer 5

The basic reason why railroads are the most efficient means of land transport is due to the low friction between steel wheels and steel rails. The disadvantage is that this also means that they cannot stop on a dime, like road vehicles with their wide rubber tyres running on asphalt, concrete etc. which gives much more friction. They also cannot steer clear of any obstruction. For this very reason, railroads need sophisticated signalling systems so that the driver/engineer knows that the track ahead is clear for much further than he/she can see. The brakes on trains are as powerful as they can be. Apply them too hard, and the wheels skid uselessly on the rails. I was driving a modern electric multiple unit passenger train, fitted with automatic wheel slip protection (like ABS on road vehicles), and running at 75mph when I unfortunately had a suicide, who jumped in front of my train from a station platform at the last moment. I slammed the brake into emergency, but - even with modern equipment - the train took over half a mile to stop.



In much of the civilised world, railroad tracks are fenced-off from the public, animals and so on. However, in North America it was the railroads that opened up the land, and built very quickly with the minimum of expense and legal restrictions. The result is that they are not fenced, and have thousands of level/grade crossings, which are much rarer elsewhere, and general irritation to the public due to the strict rules about trains sounding their horns when approaching crossings.



The best advice if you are caught on railroad tracks by shoelaces, clothing etc. is to rip off the offending shoes, clothes or whatever, or get out of your car, truck etc., and run.

Answer 6

A heavy train traveling at speed can easily take 1 to 1 1/2 miles to stop(even placed in emergency). By the time we see you it's too late stop. If a train hits you there's a pretty good chance it's going to kill you. If not you'll probably wish you were dead. As for your statement about waving your hand and stepping out in front of a car to cross the street. I don't think i'd try that one either.

Answer 7

If a train were moving very slowly and could stop it would. But almost always a train is moving too fast to stop. If you are hit by a train you will be killed. If your car stalls on the tracks get out and leave.

Answer 8

Honestly, a large train travelling at speed 40+ mph can take half a mile to stop, so it is sort of a question will they be able to see you from half a mile away and react immediately, and the practical answer is NO, don't count on it.



A small switching engine, traveling at low speed 5mph without much on it may be able to stop in time, but you're probably just in that situation if you are walking through a rail yard.

Answer 9

By the time the train crew sees you, it;s already too late for them to stop. So stay off the tracks.

Answer 10

noo if a train hits you you wudnt die you will survive -.-!

the speedd which is like 500 mph hits you nahh yu might jus get a bruise on your elbow

n no a train would never stop for a pedestrian why you going there in the first place n the rail roads has caution light for when the train is approaching soo it would alert you before so you would stop

n the brakes on a car is wayy easier than a train ........!