Accidents at railroad crossings are among the most devastating. After all, no passenger vehicle on the roadways is any match for a 200-ton locomotive engine barreling down the tracks. These accidents almost invariably result in serious, often life-altering injuries, if not death.

Despite the danger, there are important facts that many simply don't know about railroad crossings and the accident risks. Did you know...

1. That railroad crossings are far more plentiful than most think? There are more than 209,300 railroad crossings nationwide, upward of 129,330 of which intersect with public roads, according to figures from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
2. That most railroad crossing accidents happen close to home? Three out of four crashes occur within 25 miles of a motorist's home, and 50 percent occur within five miles of home, per statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the US Department of Transportation.
3. That you're more than 20 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in one involving another motor vehicle? That's according to a thorough calculation of NHTSA statistics on the rate of deaths-per-collision in vehicle/vehicle crashes versus FRA figures on deaths-per-collision in vehicle/train crashes.
4. That most railroad crossings don't have gates? Many assume that gates are a given at any point where a railroad track crosses a roadway. Not so. In fact, just 36 percent of public crossings nationwide have gates, and private crossings rarely have them - this despite the fact that crossing gates are 80 to 90 percent more effective than crossbucks and stop signs in preventing accidents.

To keep you and your family safe, make sure you know the risks that exist at every railroad crossing. In the event of an accident, get medical treatment immediately and contact Jacksonville's Rail Justice at 888-519-RAIL (7245).