You’re crossing the tracks, and your car just stops. No warning, no time to think it through. What you do in the next critical seconds matters more than almost anything else in this situation, and most drivers do not know the crucial steps to take.
Step 1: Get Out Of Your Vehicle
Do not wait or take time to grab your personal belongings; leave all those items behind; do not stay in your vehicle, and do not try to push your vehicle off the tracks. Every second spent trying to save the vehicle is a second you don’t get back if a train is closer than it looks. Get yourself, every passenger, and your pet out of the car right away.
Step 2: Get Away From the Tracks
Move away from the tracks, even if you don’t see a train coming. Trains do not always run on a schedule and can come from either direction at any time. A train may be moving faster than you think and can arrive faster than you’d expect. It can take a train a mile or more to stop, that is the length of 18 football fields or more than 15 soccer fields. Don’t wait before you move. Get out and move away immediately.
Step 3: Find the Blue and White Sign, and Call that Number
Here’s the part almost nobody knows: every highway-rail grade crossing has an Emergency Notification System (ENS) sign, a blue sign with white lettering, posted near the crossing. That number connects you directly to a railroad dispatcher, and each crossing has its own identification number, so the person on the other end knows exactly where you are.
Once you report the stalled vehicle, the dispatcher can take action to stop train traffic that could help prevent a collision. In this situation, calling the ENS number posted at the railroad crossing is often the fastest and most direct way to alert the railroad if train traffic needs to be stopped. If you can safely locate the ENS sign or call box, call the ENS number first to help stop train traffic as quickly as possible, then also call 911 so local emergency responders are notified and can respond. If you cannot find the ENS sign or call box, call 911 immediately and report the emergency.
Why This Sign Exists (and Why It’s Worth Knowing Before You Need It)
The ENS sign isn’t a decoration. Quick calls from drivers using that sign have already prevented collisions in cases where railroads were able to alert nearby trains in time. The system exists for exactly the moments when you need to report malfunctioning signs and signals, a stalled car, and when a driver with only seconds to act knows exactly what to do and how to access a direct line to someone who can stop a train.
Take a few seconds the next time you’re stopped at a crossing near your home or your commute. Find the sign. Notice where it is. You won’t have time to search for it if the moment ever actually happens.
Before It Happens: Know the Warning Signs
The best version of this story is the one where you never stall on the tracks in the first place. Our Rail Safety Tips page covers how to avoid getting stuck at a crossing in the first place, including never stopping on train tracks or entering a highway railgrade crossing unless you can fully clear it, and what those crossbuck signs and flashing lights actually mean.
Stay Prepared
Rail safety information is worth having before you need it, not after. For the full library of safety guides and printable resources, visit our Rail Safety Resources page.
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California Operation Lifesaver is a non-profit dedicated to ending collisions, fatalities, and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights-of-way across California.
