Safe Clearance for Rail Crossings
FMCSA 09-25 FR driving over rail crossings(1).pdf
On September 25, 2013 (78 FR 58915), both the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) jointly published a final rule to amend the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs) in 49 CFR Part 177 and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) in 49 CFR Part 392, respectively, to prohibit a driver of a commercial motor vehicle or of a motor vehicle transporting hazardous materials requiring placarding or certain agents or toxins listed in 42 CFR Part 73 from entering onto a highway–rail grade crossing unless there is sufficient space to drive completely through the grade crossing without stopping. The intent of this rulemaking is to reduce highway–rail grade crossing crashes. This also concludes the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published on January 28, 2011 (76 FR 5120) by both the PHMSA and FMCSA, which included a history of FMCSA’s and its predecessor’s actions from 1998 through 2006 that led to the 2011 NPRM. This final rule is effective October 25, 2013.
