The red lights at a railway crossing begin flashing and the gates start lowering as you approach. You cannot see a train. What should you do?

Why A is correct

Active crossing signals are conclusive, and their verdict replaces your own judgement about whether the track looks empty. Flashing lights and descending gates mean a train is approaching, even when you cannot see it yet. Trains close distance far faster than the eye estimates: what looks like a remote headlight can arrive in seconds, and a locomotive can neither swerve nor stop quickly. Stop well short of the gate, never on the rails, then move only once the lights go dark and the arms are fully up. If your vehicle would be left standing on the far side of the crossing, wait until you can cross completely and clear it.

Why the other options are wrong

B. Accelerate to clear the tracks before the gate finishes lowering

Racing a lowering gate is the mistake that puts vehicles on the tracks at the worst possible moment. Gate timing assumes you will stop, and misjudging the gap leaves you facing something weighing thousands of tonnes with no route off the rails.

C. Cross the tracks slowly if you cannot hear a train coming

Sound is worthless as evidence here. Locomotives are quiet at distance, wind carries noise away from you, and modern trains travel far faster than your ear suggests from the little you can hear.

D. Stop on the tracks and look both ways before proceeding

Stopping on the rails places you exactly where the train will pass. There is no version of this that is safe — clear the crossing entirely or stay well behind the gate, but never occupy the tracks themselves.

On the road

A commuter sees the flashers start three car lengths from the crossing and decides the road is clear, so she drives around the descending arm. The gate comes down on her roof. The train she never heard was doing sixty and required over a mile to stop.

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