You may cross railroad tracks every day but according to the Federal Rail Road Administration, some crossings may be more hazardous than others based on their data.
"It's based on the average volume of traffic or the speed of the train maybe the number of train tracks or the speed of the cars there's a lot of different factors that go into this." Vincent Trimboli of Idaho Department of Transportation explained.
The authors of this accident prediction study are careful to point out that the report does not rank crossings from most dangerous to least dangerous, but rather simply identifies certain railroad crossings that have potential to be hazardous.
These identifiers can assist in determine where safety resources can be directed. For Ada County, a rural crossing on Orchard Road south of Boise landed the number one spot.
A stone's throw from city hall in Meridian is dangerous crossing number two. According to the study, that crossing has more then 30,000 drivers on any given day. There's been at least one collision there since 2010, even with all the safety measures such as a crossing arm and flashing lights.
"No matter what the safety aspects are it always comes back to the drivers to make sure there is two hands on the wheel their eyes on the road and their mind on the serious task of driving. " Said Vincent Trimboli of Idaho Department of Transportation.
Number 4 on the list, South Blackcat Road in Kuna. The same crossing where a 19-year-old Boise State student was killed on December 28th.
The study's data did not include that year's tragic accident, but you can expect for that ranking to rise when they revisit the study again.
