Two final stopping on the highway factual situations arise regularly in suburban and rural settings. Sometimes when following a bus or a tanker truck we get frustrated if they stop a railroad crossing when the guardrails are not down. Wisconsin law requires this in certain circumstances and there are very good safety reasons for this.
Wisconsin law states as follows:
1339 STOP: SPECIAL VEHICLES AT RAILROAD CROSSING
A safety statute requires that the driver of a vehicle (described from Wis. Stat. Sec. 346.45(1)) before crossing at grade any track of a railroad shall stop the vehicle within 50 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail of the railroad.
The driver of a vehicle required to stop before crossing any track shall listen and look in both directions along the track for any approaching train, and shall not proceed until such precautions have been taken and until the operator has ascertained that the course is clear. Whenever an auxiliary lane is provided for stopping at a railroad, driver of vehicles required to stop shall use the lane for stopping.
A stop need not be made at:
(a) a railroad grade crossing when a police officer or crossing flagman directs traffic to proceed.
(b) a railroad grade crossing when an official traffic control signal permits traffic to proceed.
(c) an abandoned railroad grade crossing with a sign indicating the rail line is abandoned.
1340 STOP: FOR SCHOOL BUS LOADING OR UNLOADING CHILDREN
The driver of a vehicle which approaches from the front or rear any school bus which has stopped on a street or highway and when the bus is displaying flashing red warning lights shall stop the vehicle not less than 20 feet from the bus and shall remain stopped until the bus resumes motion or the bus driver extinguishes the flashing red warning lights.
McCormick Law Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has represented injured drivers and passengers in railroad crossing cases as well as school bus accident cases. Driving is a conscious activity, which requires active and engaged attention and response in order to be accomplished safely and effectively. Our attorneys get the best settlements in stopping cases when there is evidence of the defendant’s negligence in failing to follow simple stopping rules, resulting in causing damages, including medical bills, wage loss, pain and suffering. The rules of the road are reasonable, common sense standards designed to make stopping on the highway safe for everyone. Direct evidence can include witness testimony or video footage of a rolling or incomplete stop. Indirect evidence can be an accident reconstruction based on debris, skid marks and vehicle damage. Believe in better.
