Tracks Across the Road: Trolley and Rail Crossings Around San Diego

San Diego drivers cross tracks constantly without thinking about it: trolley lines running through downtown, Mission Valley, East County and South Bay, and the coastal rail line that cuts through the North County beach towns with street-level crossings. Most of the time nothing happens. The rules exist for the few seconds when something does.

The stop rule

Vehicle Code section 22451 applies to railroad and rail transit crossings alike, which includes the trolley. When a signal, a lowered gate or a flagger warns of an approaching train, trolley or on-track equipment, or one is plainly visible or sounding its horn close enough to be a hazard, you must stop not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail and wait until you can cross safely. You may not drive through, around or under a crossing gate while it is down. Some crossings are watched by automated enforcement cameras.

Fifteen feet is roughly a car length. Stopping with your bumper over the first rail because the car ahead stopped late is the classic way to be too close.

The rule people break without realising: no room on the other side

Section 22526 adds two requirements specific to tracks. Whatever the signals say, you may not enter a railroad or rail transit crossing unless there is enough space on the far side for your car and the train or trolley, and unless your car has enough underbody clearance to get across. The common San Diego version is a crossing just before a busy intersection: the light ahead turns red, the queue stops, and the last car is left sitting on the rails. Wait behind the tracks until there is a full car length clear beyond them.

The statute says a violation of section 22526 is not treated as a law about the safe operation of vehicles; it is handled as a stopping or parking violation. That is a reason to understand the penalty, not a reason to take the risk.

If your car stalls on the tracks

The DMV handbook gives two sets of steps.

• A train is coming or the lights are flashing: get out immediately, move away from the tracks diagonally in the direction the train is coming from, so debris is thrown away from you, then call 911.
• No train in sight and no lights: get everyone out, call the number posted on the crossing post or the metal control box near the tracks, give the crossing number if one is posted, tell them a vehicle is on the tracks, and then call 911.

Do not stay in the car trying to restart it. The car is replaceable.

Trolley lines in the street

Where the trolley runs along or beside a street, the risk is turning across its path. Before a left turn over trolley tracks, check behind you as well as ahead, obey the turn signals that govern the crossing, and never stop on the tracks while waiting to turn. A trolley cannot swerve and needs far more distance to stop than a car.

Where insurance comes in

A collision with a train or trolley tends to be severe. Damage to your own car is a collision-coverage claim, and the car is often a total loss. If you were at fault, damage to rail equipment and injuries to passengers fall on your liability coverage, which is one of the situations where minimum limits run out quickly. A ticket under section 22451 can also reach your driving record, and your record is the first rating factor California insurers must weigh.

If you cross tracks every day, ask us whether your liability limits are realistic for the kind of collision a rail crossing produces.