12 2 STA T .4876PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 4 3 2 —O CT. 16 , 2008 ‘ ‘ (4)inthev i c init yofagr a d e cro s sing ,w ho creates a ha z ard of an accident invo l ving in ju ry or p roperty da m age at the grade crossing .’ ’. ( b ) CONF O RMI N GA M E N D MEN T . —T he chapter analysis for chapter 201 is amended by stri k ing the item relating to section 201 5 1 and inserting the following
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‘ 2015 1 .Railro a dt r esp assi ng,v andalis m , and h igh w a y- rail grade c rossing warning sign violation prevention strategy. ’ ’. (c) E D UCA TIONA L ORA W ARENE S S P ROGRAM I TEMS FOR D ISTRI B U - TION.— S ection 201 3 4(a) is amended by adding at the end the fol- lowing: ‘‘The Secretary may purchase items of nominal value and distribute them to the public without charge as part of an edu- cational or awareness program to accomplish the purposes of this section and of any other sections of this title related to improving the safety of highway-rail crossings and to preventing trespass on railroad rights of way, and the Secretary shall prescribe guide- lines for the administration of this authority.’’. SEC.209 . A CC ID E NT AND INCIDENT R E PO RTIN G . The F ederal R ailroad Administration shall conduct an audit of each Class I railroad at least once every 2 years and conduct an audit of each non-Class I railroad at least once every 5 years to ensure that all grade crossing collisions and fatalities are reported to any Federal national accident database. SEC. 2 1 0. F OSTERING INTROD U CTION OF NE W TEC H NO L OG Y TO I M PRO V E SAFETY AT HIGHWAY - RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS. (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as amended by section 204 of this division, is further amended by adding at the end the following: ‘ ‘ §2016 1 .Fostering intro duc tion o f ne w tec h no l og y to i mp ro v es a fety at highway - rail grade crossings ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.— ‘‘(1) Collisions between highway users and trains at high- way-rail grade crossings continue to cause an unacceptable loss of life, serious personal injury, and property damage. ‘‘(2) W hile elimination of at-grade crossings through consoli- dation of crossings and grade separations offers the greatest long-term promise for optimizing the safety and efficiency of the two modes of transportation, over 140,000 public grade crossings remain on the general rail system—appro x imately one for each route mile on the general rail system. ‘‘(3) Conventional highway traffic control devices such as flashing lights and gates are often effective in warning motor- ists of a train’s approach to an e q uipped crossing. ‘‘(4) Since enactment of the H ighway Safety Act of 1 97 3, over $ 4,200,000,000 of Federal funding has been invested in safety improvements at highway-rail grade crossings, yet a majority of public highway-rail grade crossings are not yet equipped with active warning systems. ‘‘(5) The emergence of new technologies presents opportuni- ties for more effective and affordable warnings and safer pas- sage of highway users and trains at remaining highway-rail grade crossings. Audits.49USC20 90 1no t e . G uide l ines.
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