What are the Facts About Train Accidents?

• Over 300 million vehicles cross over railroad tracks daily.
• Last year, 2014, almost 300 people died at highway-rail grade crossings (Where the highway crosses a railroad).
• Over 500 people died last year, 2014, while trespassing on railroad property.
• It takes a little over one mile for a freight train travelling 55 mph to halt.
• More than 1 in 5 train accidents happen at crossings with warning lights.
• There are approximately one quarter of a million highway-rail grade crossings in America.
• You are nearly 50 times more likely to be killed from a train accident than you are from a car accident.
• Every three hours a train strikes either another vehicle or a person.
• In 2014, at the national level, there were 2,287 collisions, 269 fatalities, and 849 injuries involving trains at public and private crossings. By comparison, those figures were 7,456, 649, and 2,910, respectively, in 1984.
• In 2014, in Illinois, there were 134 collisions, 29 fatalities, and about 52 injuries involving trains. By comparison, those figures were roughly 180, 33, and 80, respectively, in 2005.
• In 2014, the top ten states for crashes at railroad crossings included Illinois, Texas, California, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Louisiana.

Train accidents are incredibly common though maybe not as common as they were before. They are also incredibly severe: hundreds of people die, thousands of people are injured, millions of dollars is lost, and innumerable lives are changed. Before these accidents, it is critical to think about the vulnerable, the people that could lose the most in these terrible and traumatic events. It is important because we can take steps to protect them before the incident as well as help them after the incident. Here is a simple list of who is normally injured in train accidents:

• Passengers: Train passengers are some of common victims in accidents and suffer some of the most extensive and significant injuries.


• Train and railroad workers: Many people often forget about the people working in and around trains but they frequently get caught up in these affairs as well.


• Bystanders: Bystanders are normally injured at intersections or crossings. They are normally some of the most affected train accident victims because of their relative vulnerability.