Can you beat that train? Why try?

You’re late for work, so you’ve taken a shortcut down an back country road.

The traffic is minimal, and you’re sailing along — until you reach a rail crossing.

Like many such crossings, there are no flashing lights and/or gates to warn you of an oncoming train. Moments ago, you noticed an advance-warning sign, some pavement markings, and a “crossbuck” sign where the rails cross the highway or road.

Off in the distance, you hear the rumble of an engine. Waiting out the long line of freight cars blocking your way could cost you 10 minutes and some demerit points at work. And the oncoming train seems pretty far off. What do you do?

If you risk it, your last worry might not be whether you get to the office on time.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) says drivers are 30 times more likely to be killed in a train collision than in crash with another car. That’s despite a downward trend in the number of car-rail crossing deaths.

Governments in both the U.S. and Canada have been working to increase the number crossings that have “active” warnings, such as flashing lights and gates that lower. But the cost is enormous. In the U.S., a simple crossbuck sign costs about $700; a flashing signal can cost $65,000; a gate across one lane is upward of $20,000; and an overpass — the safest answer to the problem of rail crossings — can run more than $2 million.

Active deterrents are not as effective as you might think, either. The DOT says deaths are roughly divided between those crossings with active signage and those with passive warnings.

In Canada, more deaths happen at active crossings than at passive ones, perhaps because the heavily signed crossings are busier.

Safety experts say all car-train collisions are avoidable. No one is sure why they happen. Perhaps the problem rests with drivers’ perceptions of time? One theory suggests that because passenger rail use has dwindled, most people don’t understand the speed of train travel.

Passenger trains travel up to 160 km/h and freight trains rocket by at 110 km/h. It can take a train more than one minute to come to a complete stop. Even under perfect conditions, a train can keep moving for more than two kilometres after engineers helplessly slam on their brakes. And because they’re on a set of straight tracks, trains can’t swerve to avoid an oncoming collision.

Quite simply, even though it looks as though you do, you don’t have time to cross. So what do you do? First, don’t expect to see active warnings at all train crossings. When you do approach a crossbuck, it should be treated as a yield sign, even if there are no lights.

In some provinces and states, drivers can face a stiff penalty for zipping past that sign. After seven Illinois high school students were killed in 1995 when their school bus stopped for a traffic light with its back end over a stretch of track, that state set a minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service for drivers and pedestrians who cross in front of oncoming trains.

In North Carolina, the state placed plastic lane dividers on the road so drivers wouldn’t pull over into the oncoming traffic lane to jump the queue and get over the tracks.

In Canada, the federal Department of Transportation and the Railway Association of Canada created a public-education program called “Operation Lifesaver” to deter drivers, pedestrians and bike riders from risking their lives out of sheer impatience.

Anyone who gets behind the wheel should know there’s too much to lose in a race with a train. Especially your life.

You can message Rhonda by logging on to www.shiftweekly.com and clicking the contact link. Wheelbase Media is a worldwide provider of automotive news and feature stories.