A railway crossing is a place where a road and railway tracks intersect at the same level. Such crossings can be regulated, where traffic is organized either by automatic devices (traffic light, traffic light combined with a barrier) or by an attendant. There are also unregulated crossings, and it is at these that the greatest number of accidents occur in Ukraine.
Let's analyze several tricky situations that our readers ask about.
When is it allowed to pass a STOP sign at a railway crossing
Kyiv, Mykola Hrinchenko Street. The crossing near the Roshen factory (named after Karl Marx) and the Olkom plant.
Is it necessary to stop before a crossing equipped with light and sound signaling and a STOP sign, if the prohibiting traffic light signal is not on, and there is no train in sight?
This crossing is equipped with a type six traffic light, which shows two alternately flashing red signals, as well as a "STOP" sign. The light indication on such a traffic light is activated exclusively when movement is prohibited, that is, when a train is approaching, so the driver cannot know in advance whether the device is working. It follows that stopping before the crossing is mandatory.
However, if at the same crossing the traffic light additionally had a white-lunar signal, the priority signs would lose their force, and drivers would have to be guided by the traffic light indications. The white-lunar light on a type six traffic light indicates that the signaling is working correctly, and crossing the railway crossing is allowed.
Is it possible to place two STOP signs near a railway crossing
Vinnytsia, Chekhov Street, route from the "Volodymyr" car market towards Nemyrivske Highway, where the crossing is complicated by the fact that a secondary road joins the main road before it.
In the area where the secondary road joins Chekhov Street, there is a sign 2.2 "No passing without stopping" (STOP) together with sign 1.29 "Single-track railway". Immediately after entering Chekhov Street, a "STOP" sign is again installed in pair with sign 1.29, and only then is the crossing itself located. The question is whether a driver leaving the secondary road onto Chekhov Street is obliged to stop before the "STOP" sign placed before the junction with Chekhov Street? Or is this sign only a duplicate, since the crossing itself is behind the second "STOP" sign?
1. According to clause 33 of the Ukrainian traffic rules, stopping before an installed sign 2.2 (STOP) is mandatory.
2. Referring to clause 16.11 of the traffic rules, vehicles following a secondary road must give way to traffic moving on the main road.
3. Sign 1.29 "Single-track railway" is placed directly before each crossing not equipped with a barrier. If the crossing has a traffic light, the sign is mounted on the same pole as the traffic light. If there is no traffic light, the sign is installed at a distance of at least 20 meters from the nearest rail. Based on this, it can be concluded: although the sign 1.29 on the secondary road is installed in violation (since it cannot be a repeated sign), stopping before the "STOP" sign is necessary regardless of the presence or absence of additional indicators.
In preparing the material, we were helped by experts from the Karat driving school.
If you have questions regarding passing railway crossings, send them to us with the city and address at [email protected]
And don't forget: a train crosses the crossing in 30 seconds, regardless of where your car is at that moment — on the tracks or before the barrier!
