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Comment by crazygringo | Hacker News Reader

I'm so confused. How on earth is a maps app having railroad crossing markings going to save lives?

A driver needs to stop at a railroad crossing just like they do at a red light or stop sign. If a driver is ignoring any of these, I really don't see how an app is going to help.

Or conversely, if a crossing is somehow not well-marked on the road then that's deep negligence on the part of the transportation department and it needs to be fixed -- it has nothing to do with apps. (All the crossings I know have a closed gate and flashing lights, although I understand this might vary locally.)

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I think there is a middle ground. Apps could announce the upcoming railroad crossing just like they do with a left/right turn. Somewhat of a silly example, but if there is a river at the end of a road and your only option is a left or a right, the app will not help stop you for driving the car into the river, but the instruction to go right or left does (albeit accidentally) help you avoid that. I don't see why it won't do the same with rail crossings.

Although you should focus on road signs more than you do the app, there could be a dangerous situation in which the app says "make a left turn at the light", but before reaching the light there is a railroad crossing. Of course you need to stop at that, but the app can enhance the situation but treating it like another instruction. I see no problem here but an overall safety enhancement.

Ok, but why do that for railroad crossings and not any other type of dangerous crossing? Should we have these apps announce every stop sign, traffic light, and uncontrolled intersection you travel through for safety reasons?

The list is much longer. You're driving past a kindergarten; watch out for children. You're driving past a school. You're approaching an area with many users logged into Google so watch out for pedestrians. You're crossing a bridge. You're passing a point with an unusually large number of accidents in the past.

If that isn't to become some sort of text-to-speech database dump about the area, there has to be a good theory of the conditions for what's worthwhile. And I sense that the natural conditions are the same as the conditions for putting up warning signs, reducing the speed limit, etc.

> Apps could announce the upcoming railroad crossing

This can have the potential effect that people expect the apps to always announce a crossing. So when the app fails to announce for whatever reason, people go through the crossing and get hurt.

Agreed. Why not put automatic vehicle barriers at all grade crossings? Or at least the known dangerous ones.

Because a vehicle barrier could also trap vehicles on the tracks.

No, it cannot. They are mandated to have a designed breaking point. If you’re trapped, accelerate and break the barrier. Little damage to the car, relatively little damage to the barrier, everyone’s still alive.

a) they all have money, lots and lots of money

b) they have been proven to not having taken action even though "safety advocates" have asked for years.

c) as such they are ripe for some cherry picked court to fine them

There are many many warnings we encounter in daily life which only exist to protect not just the consumer but the manufacturer or service provider from unscrupulous lawyers and political officials who would otherwise exploit the situation.

no snark intended, however we live in a society where someone else is always to blame and usually someone with money which can be taken by penalty or forfeiture in trial or settlement.

Making safety features redundant increases total safety.

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