(a) Whenever any person driving a vehicle approaches a railroad grade crossing under any of the circumstances stated in this section, the driver of the vehicle shall stop within fifty feet (50′) but not less than fifteen feet (15′) from the nearest rail of the railroad, and shall not proceed until that driver can do so safely. These requirements shall apply when:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class C misdemeanorup to 30 daysup to $50
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-8-145

  • Driver: means :
    (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Railroad: means a carrier of persons or property upon cars, other than streetcars, operated upon stationary rails. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Railroad train: means a steam engine, electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails, except streetcars. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
(1) A clearly visible electric or mechanical signal device gives warning of the immediate approach of a railroad train or other on-track equipment, which shall mean any self-propelled machinery or vehicle traveling on a railroad track;
(2) A crossing gate is lowered or when a human flagger gives or continues to give a signal of the approach or passage of a railroad train or other on-track equipment;
(3) A railroad train or other on-track equipment approaching within approximately one thousand five hundred feet (1,500′) of the highway crossing emits a signal audible from such distance and the railroad train or other on-track equipment, by reason of its speed or nearness to the crossing, is an immediate hazard; or
(4) An approaching railroad train or other on-track equipment is plainly visible and is in hazardous proximity to the crossing.
(b) No person shall drive any vehicle through, around or under any crossing gate or barrier at a railroad crossing while the gate or barrier is closed or is being opened or closed.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
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