Train Safety Stats and Facts

FACTS

1. About every hour and a half a train collides with another object or is derailed.
2. Every two weeks a train that is carrying hazardous materials derails in the United States.
3. Today rail companies rely on technology that was developed more than 70 years ago, and very little research and improvement has been made to update these dated safety measures.
4. Local governments often have no voice over the train traffic in their area, which can result in delays for local emergency responders.
5. According to the DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration, about 80% of railroad crossings do not have adequate warning devices.
6. While vehicle on train collisions have decreased in the past few years, pedestrians involved in train collisions have increased.

STATS

• According to Operation Lifesaver, 2,025 vehicle-train collisions occurred in the U.S resulting in 265 fatalities and 768 injuries in 2016.
• According to the Federal Railroad Administration, in 2014 there were 11,896 train accidents at railroad crossings, resulting in 804 fatalities and thousands of injuries over the course of that year.
• Trains are estimated to kill 1 person every 100 minutes. Each year nearly 1,000 people are killed in train related accidents.
• More than half of all railroad accidents occur at unprotected crossings.
• More than 80 percent of crossings lack adequate warning devices such as lights and gates.
• Occupants of vehicles that collide with a train are 40 times more likely to die than if they had collided with another vehicle of comparable size.
• There are about 5,800 train-car crashes each year in the United States, most of which occur at railroad crossings. These accidents caused 600 deaths and injure about 2,300.
• More than half of all fatal train accidents occur at train crossings that do not have active safety devises or have safety devices that are simply inadequate or, in some cases, have no safety devices to alert unsuspecting motorists.
• During the day, about 75% of car and train collisions involve the train hitting the car. At night, about 50% of the time, the car runs into the train at an inadequately marked crossing.