§ 1171 — Certain vehicles must stop at all railroad grade crossings

§ 1171. Certain vehicles must stop at all railroad grade crossings.\n(a) The driver of any bus carrying passengers, of any school bus, of any\nmotor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater than ten\nthousand pounds that transports division 2.3 chlorine or is a cargo\ntank, whether loaded or empty, used to transport hazardous materials, as\ndefined in section five hundred one-a of this chapter, of any motor\nvehicle required to be marked or placarded by either the United States\ndepartment of transportation or the New York state department of\ntransportation regulations or any vehicle carrying explosive substances\nor flammable liquids as a cargo or part of a cargo, of any crawler-type\ntractor, steam shovel, derrick, roller, or of any equipment or structure\nhaving a normal operating speed of ten or less miles per hour or a\nvertical body or load clearance of less than one-half inch per foot of\nthe distance between any two adjacent axles or in any event of less than\nnine inches, measured above the level surface of a roadway, before\ncrossing at grade any track or tracks of a railroad, shall stop such\nvehicle within fifty feet but not less than fifteen feet from the\nnearest rail of such railroad and while so stopped shall listen and look\nin both directions along such track for any approaching train, and for\nsignals indicating the approach of a train, except as hereinafter\nprovided, and shall not proceed until he can do so safely. After\nstopping as required herein and upon proceeding when it is safe to do so\nthe driver of any said vehicle shall cross only in such gear of the\nvehicle that there will be no necessity for changing gears while\ntraversing such crossing and the driver shall not shift gears while\ncrossing the track or tracks.\n (b) No stop need be made at any such crossing where a police officer\nor a traffic-control signal or sign directs traffic to proceed.\n (c) Every motor vehicle used in commerce with a gross vehicle weight\nrating of greater than ten thousand pounds not subject to the\nrequirements of subdivision (a) of this section: (i) shall upon\napproaching a railroad grade crossing, be driven at a rate of speed\nwhich will permit said motor vehicle to be stopped before reaching the\nnearest rail of such crossing, and shall not be driven upon or over such\ncrossing until due caution has been taken to ascertain that the course\nis clear; and (ii) shall stop at such crossing if the course is not\nclear.\n (d) In addition to the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (c) of\nthis section, the driver of a commercial vehicle must check\nstreet-railway grade crossings within a business or residence district.\n (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, every operator of a\ncommercial motor vehicle shall obey a traffic control device or the\ndirections of a police officer at a railroad grade crossing.\n (f) Every person convicted of a violation of this section shall for a\nfirst conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not more than one\nhundred fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than fifteen days\nor by both such fine and imprisonment; for a conviction of a second\nviolation, both of which were committed within a period of thirty\nmonths, such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than five\nhundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than forty-five days or\nby both such fine and imprisonment; upon a conviction of a third or\nsubsequent violation, all of which were committed within a period of\nthirty months, such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than\nseven hundred fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ninety\ndays or by both such fine and imprisonment.\n