Close to 200 years of railroading and just in the past couple of decades, railroad crossings become a problem for a certain segment of road vehicle operators. The actual crossing is railroad property; those using the easement have to get through it as quickly as they can, or not enter it at all if they cannot.
The railroad industry has gone to great lengths over the years to improve safety. Grade crossings are the one area where they are practically at wits end, because it’s the one part of the rail system where they are forced to interact with an increasingly incompetent driving public.