Research

Despite the FRA's positive intent to act in "the best interest of public safety", the opposite has occured due to the significant sleep loss burden from train horns beings sounded at night in highly populated areas. Train horn volume ranges from 96-110 decibels which is similar to maximum volume on headphones while listening to a rock song. The research below illustrates the reality of this unintended consequence.

How many Utahns are losing sleep due to the train horns at night?

This is difficult question to answer with precision because of how many variables there are including: individual awakening sensitivity, housing insulation quality, and distance to train crossing. 

However, using 2020 census data and geospatial analysis reasonable estimates can be made. 

One estimate that assumes a uniform distribution of residents within a given census block is that there are ~31,000 Utahns live withing 1,000 feet of a train crossing (see map below illustrating what areas are affected), close enough for many people to be woken by the 96-110 train horns.

What are the negative public health and safety effects from sleep loss?

Sleep fragmentation and disturbances have been studied extensively by many researchers and have been associated with:

• Significantly elevated car crash risk (e.g. drivers who sleep 2-3 hours less usual had 3.0 times the crash rate AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication)

• Weakened immune systems which increase susceptibility to common viral illnesses (which can and do lead to death in some cases) (see Sleep, Noise and Health Review)

• Increased risk for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt, anxiety, and depression (see Meta-analysis of sleep disturbance and suicidal thoughts and behaviors and The relationship between sleep disturbance and depression, anxiety, and functioning in college students)

• Workplace injuries (see Sleep problems and work injuries: A systematic review and meta-analysis 

• Increases in aggression which can lead to interpersonal violence (i.e., intimate partner violence, child abuse) (see Observational and experimental studies on sleep duration and aggression: A systematic review and meta-analysis) 

• Impared childhood development (see Consequences of Sleep Loss or Sleep Disruption in Children)

How many deaths have occured from causes which are exacerbated by sleep loss?

1. Drowsy Driving

According to official statistics from the Utah Department of Public Safety's Highway Safety Office, 102 Utahns died in fatal drowsy driving related accidents between 2013-2024, or an average of 8.5 deaths per year.

Source: https://udps.numetric.net/utah-crash-summary#/ and https://site.utah.gov/dps-highwaysafe/?page_id=1579&preview=true

2. Viral Illness (Influenza/Pneumonia)

According to official statistics from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics an average of 318 Utahns died each year between 2014 and 2022.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/flu_pneumonia_mortality/flu_pneumonia.htm

3. Suicide

According to official statistics from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics an average of 645 Utahns died each year between 2014 and 2022.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/suicide-mortality/suicide.htm

4. Workplace accidents

According to official statistics from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) administered by UOSH BLS an average of 51 Utahns died per year between 2018 and 2022.

Source: https://www.laborcommission.utah.gov/ulc-media/fatal-work-injuries-in-utah-increased-during-2022/

5. Intimate partner-related homicide

According to statistics compiled by the Utah Domestic Vilolence Coalition from Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) and the Utah Department of Health’s Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) there were an average of 10.5 Utahns killed per year between 2009 and 2016.

Source: https://udvc.org/statistics/

What has the FRA said about the importance of sleep?

The FRA has an entire website dedicated to research on the importance of sleep for railroad employees. Yet when it comes to suspending quiet zones they have said, "Unfortunately, we do not have the data to comment on the relative impacts on safety regarding sleep deficiency caused by train horns and the localized risks of accidents at grade crossings."

Public safety benefit from train horns

Would train horns sounding through the night have prevented any of the train crossing deaths that have occured in the last 12 years since the Quiet Zones were established?

The data table below shows every fatal accident reported to the FRA on Form 57  that has occured since the Woods Cross and Lehi managed Quiet Zones were established in 2012.  

In total 20 people have tragically died at a train crossing between Provo and Ogden. Nine of the deaths where declared suicides by the reporting railroad or the news media. Reading the details of each it's often the case that routine horn sounding could not reasonably have been expected to prevent the accident. In some cases the horn was being sounded since conductors always reserve the right to use the horn in emergency situations even within a quiet zone (and appropriately so of course).

It's also noteworthy that very few of the accidents occured during sleeping hours when the horns are most disruptive to sleeping residents. A simple and effective policy solution to better balance public safety could be to only sound horns during the day when suspending a quiet zone. Making this adjustment to FRA policies would be well justified on risk reduction grounds.

Are Quiet Zones less safe than non-Quiet Zones?

2013 - National Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Training Conference

The Department of Transportation found no significant difference in train collisions before and after the establishment of quiet zones.

https://static.tti.tamu.edu/conferences/rail13/presentations/bo9-quiet-zones/ries.pdf

2017 - Quiet Zone Analyses and Inspections Could Be Improved

The Government Accountability Office recommended that FRA: (1) revise its methodology for analyzing the safety of quiet zones, and (2) develop guidance on conducting quiet zone inspections. The Department of Transportation partially concurred with the first recommendation, saying it would consider it, and fully concurred with the second. GAO continues to believe changes to the methodology are needed, as discussed in the report.

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-18-97

2020 - Trespass Risk in Quiet Zones

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, under the direction of the DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of Research, Development and Technology, studied the effects of the implementation of quiet zones on trespass accidents along the national rail network. There was no statistically significant difference in trespass casualties before and after the establishment of the quiet zones for all three observable periods. 

https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/2020-09/Trespass%20Risk%20in%20Quiet%20Zones-A.pdf