§ 39-10-43 — Certain vehicles must stop at all railroad grade crossings

1. The driver of a bus carrying passengers, or of a schoolbus, or of a vehicle carrying
chlorine, empty or loaded cargo tank vehicles used to transport dangerous articles or
any liquid having a flashpoint below two hundred degrees Fahrenheit [93.33 degrees
Celsius], cargo tank vehicles transporting a commodity having a temperature above its
flashpoint at the time of loading, certain cargo tank vehicles transporting commodities
under special permits issued by the hazardous materials regulations board, and every
motor vehicle which must have the following placards: "explosives", "poison",
"flammable oxidizers", "compressed gas", "corrosives", "flammable gas", "radioactive",
or "dangerous", before crossing at grade any track of a railroad, shall stop the vehicle
within fifty feet [15.24 meters] but not less than fifteen feet [4.57 meters] from the
nearest rail of the railroad and while stopped shall listen and look in both directions
along the track for any approaching train or other on-track equipment, and for signals
indicating the approach of a train or other on-track equipment and may not proceed
until the driver can do so safely. After stopping as required and upon proceeding when
safe to do so, the driver of the vehicle shall cross only in such gear of the vehicle that
there will be no necessity for manually changing gears while traversing the crossing
and the driver may not shift gears manually while crossing the track.
2. A stop is not required at a crossing if traffic is controlled by a police officer. For the
purposes of this section, a United States marshal is considered a police officer.
3. A stop is not required at a crossing that the director has designated as an
out-of-service or exempt crossing and which is clearly marked by signs bearing the
words "Tracks out of service" or "Exempt" in conspicuous places on each side of the
crossing.
4. The director shall notify the road authority and any railway company of a crossing
under the jurisdiction of that railway company which the director has designated as an
out-of-service crossing under this section and the road authority shall erect signs

bearing the words "Tracks out of service" or "Exempt" in conspicuous places on each
side of the crossing.
5. All signs must conform to the manual on uniform traffic-control devices as provided
under section 39-13-06.