• Buses transporting passengers, certain cargo tanks, and certain vehicles hauling hazardous materials must stop between 15 and 50 feet of all railroad crossings.
• All commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers must slow down enough to stop before railroad tracks if the driver sees that the course is not clear.
• Hazardous conditions include snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke.

Railroad crossings

Certain CMVs are required to stop between 15 and 50 feet of all railroad crossings, to make sure the tracks are clear. This applies to buses transporting passengers, certain cargo tanks, and certain vehicles hauling hazardous materials, as listed in 392.10. The driver must not change gears while crossing the tracks.

All other CMV drivers, when approaching tracks, must slow down enough to be able to stop before the tracks if the driver sees that the course is not clear.

Finally, drivers may never drive onto a highway-rail grade crossing if there is not enough space to drive completely through the crossing without stopping.

Hazardous driving conditions

The CMV regulations require drivers to slow down and use “extreme caution” in hazardous conditions, such as snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke. If conditions become bad enough, drivers must stop driving until it’s safe to drive again, unless stopping is more hazardous to passengers than continuing to the nearest safe area.