Section 16. An electric railroad company shall not be subject to the following provisions of law relative to railroad corporations contained in chapter one hundred and sixty: so much of section twenty-two as refers to tracks laid longitudinally within the limits of a public way; so much of section forty-one as applies to grain elevators; sections sixty-five to sixty-seven, inclusive, and sections one hundred and thirty-eight, one hundred and fifty-one, one hundred and fifty-two, one hundred and sixty-eight to one hundred and seventy-one, inclusive, and two hundred and twenty-seven; but the department shall prescribe rules and regulations relative to the equipment of cars, the ringing of bells, the sounding of whistles and the giving of signals, for the prevention of accidents.