Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:174 – Moving heavy equipment at railroad grade crossings
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:174
- Load: means a weight or quantity of anything resting upon something else regarded as its support. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Railroad: means a carrier of persons or property upon cars, other than streetcars, operated upon stationary rails. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Railroad train: means a steam or diesel engine, electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails, except streetcars. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Roadway: means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Stop: means , when required, the complete cessation from movement. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Vehicle: means every device by which persons or things may be transported upon a public highway or bridge, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
A. No person shall operate or move any crawler-type tractor, steam shovel, derrick, roller, or any equipment or structure having a normal operating speed of ten or less miles per hour or a vertical body or load clearance of less than one-half inch per foot of the distance between any two adjacent axles or in any event of less than nine inches, measured above the level surface of a roadway, upon or across any tracks at a railroad grade crossing without first complying with this Section.
B. Notice of any such intended crossing shall be given to a station agent of such railroad and a reasonable time be given to such railroad to provide proper protection at such crossing.
C. Before making any such crossing the person operating or moving any such vehicle or equipment shall first stop the same not less than fifteen feet nor more than fifty feet from the nearest rail of such railroad and while so stopped shall listen and look in both directions, and shall not proceed until the crossing can be made safely.
D. No such crossing shall be made when warning is given by automatic signal or crossing gates or a flagman or otherwise of the immediate approach of a railroad train or car. If a flagman is provided by the railroad, movement over the crossing shall be under his direction.
Acts 1962, No. 310, §1.