There are over 23,000 railway crossings in Canada. What are the odds of you driving safely through one of them? Studies have indicated that over 400 car/train accidents occur every year in Canada. In addition, half of all these accidents end in death. Are you willing to play these odds?
The total time it takes between the flashing light turning red and the train passing by is literally minutes. Why would anyone want to risk their life for a few minutes of their time?
In addition, the engineer sounds the train’s whistle to let drivers know the train is approaching, yet some drivers think they can beat the train. The problem is there may be another one approaching after the first one.
Here is a statistic which illustrates just how dangerous crossing railways can be: A freight train traveling at 90 km/h would need at least 1.6 km in order to stop. Hitting you at 20 km/h is instant death.
Source: http://www.insurance-rates.ca/autoquote.html