U.S. DOT Inspector General looks at FRA’s grade crossing accident statistics

Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
image description
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio grants money for grade crossing improvements.
Operation Lifesaver, Inc.

The U.S. DOT Inspector General recently issued a report on the Federal Railroad Administration’s methods for obtaining and managing grade crossing accident statistics.  The FRA gathers data on these accidents, then uses it to prepare predictive analysis to help railroads, local law enforcement, and others to be better informed about grade crossing risks in their areas.

The report concluded that “FRA has effective procedures to determine whether grade crossing incident data are complete and accurate.”  The report also concludes that the “FRA has not updated its accident prediction formula since 2013 and lacks a comprehensive compliance manual for grade crossing teams.”

The Inspector-General makes two recommendations in the report to improve the effectiveness of the FRA program:

1. “Establish and implement a procedure for determining when to evaluate and, if necessary, adjust the normalizing constants for the accident prediction formula in U.S. DOT’s Accident Prediction and Severity Model to reflect current accident and grade crossing inventory data.

2.”Prepare and implement a comprehensive compliance manual for the grade crossing discipline that includes procedures for using grade crossing data to focus inspections and outreach.”

For more information and to read the entire report, click here.

For the latest news, go to rtands.com

Tags: , , , ,

Media