When approaching a railroad crossing with warning signs or signals, you should:

• A. Slow down, look for signs of an approaching train, and stop if required by signals; do not cross until clear.
• B. Stop and ask a pedestrian.
• C. Speed up to cross before train arrives.
• D. Ignore warning signs and cross as soon as possible.

Answer: (A)

When approaching a railroad crossing with warning devices, you must be prepared to stop and verify the track is clear before crossing. Slow down, scan for an approaching train in either direction, and obey any signals that require you to stop. You should not cross until the signals are not active and you can see there is no train coming. This is essential because trains can be closer and faster than they appear, and they require far more stopping distance than cars. Stopping to ask a pedestrian isn’t relevant to the crossing itself, speeding up to beat a train is dangerous and illegal, and ignoring warning signs is unsafe. So the right approach is to slow down, check for trains, and cross only when it’s clearly safe.