This Action Plan presents a multi-faceted, multi-modal approach for improving safety at our nation's highway-rail crossings and for the prevention of trespassing on the rights-of-way of our nation's railroads. It is multi-faceted in that it presents enforcement, engineering, education, research, promotional and legislative initiatives addressing crossings of both light and conventional rail rights-of-way by public and private streets and highways. The objectives were to reduce the number of highway-rail crossing accidents and casualties while not impeding, but facilitating, the contribution potential of the highway and rail infrastructure on the nation's economy.

Reports on federal efforts to improve safety at the nation's railroad crossings. Analyzes progress made in reducing accidents and fatalities at crossings. Discusses federal and state strategies -- for distributing funds, developing technologies, and educating the public. Assesses the Dept. of Transportation's (DoT) progress in implementing its action plan for improving railroad crossing safety. Charts, tables and graphs.

This report was prepared as part of the June 1994 Departmental Rail-Highway Crossing Safety Action Plan. Initiative V.B, Data and Research-Demographics, called for a study describing the circumstances under which fatal rail crossing crashes occur and characteristics of the drivers involved in such crashes. This report compares fatal motor vehicle rail crossing crashes with fatal crashes occurring at intersections and all fatal crashes. Data from NHTSA's Fatal Accident Reporting System, supplemented with information from Claritas, a commercially available geodemographic database, were used to provide the descriptive statistics.