60 Chapter 4 — Your Driving RAILROAD CROSSING GATES CANNOT TRAP YOU OR YOUR  VEHICLE drive through the gate. It is flexible and will not block you in. If  you stop and try to back up, your vehicle may stall; Railroad Emergency Notification System sign,  also known as the Blue Sign. Knowing how to use the Blue Sign to directly  contact the railroad company is the quickest  method to stop a train in the event of a railroad  related emergency. An example (above) of the railroad  Emergency Notification Sign (Blue Sign) and its location is  depicted in the red circle on the illustration below. When a train hits a 4,000-lb. car, it is like your car running over a soda can. No vehicle is worth a life. With rail traffic increasing throughout North Carolina, it is more important  than ever to practice safety at railroad crossings. Trains cannot stop quickly, but  your vehicle can. When a bicycle lane or bike path travels on or adjacent to the roadway, please  pay special attention to bicyclists as you approach and move through an  intersection. Because bicyclists ride to the right of motor vehicle traffic, the  Bicycle Lanes Railroad related emergencies: What you need to know. • Crossing gates will not trap you, but stopping traffic might. Be sure the traffic  ahead of you will not stop and block you in on the tracks; • Each railroad company has its own emergency telephone number  and each railroad crossing has a unique USDOT crossing identification  number. • If your vehicle stalls on or near the tracks GET OUT IMMEDIATELY. A  train, which may weigh several thousand tons traveling at 55 mph may take  more than a mile to stop. By the time the engineer on the train sees you, it is  too late to stop the train. • Move away from your vehicle and the tracks. Walk quickly along the  roadway to a safe location away from the railroad tracks. • When safely away from the tracks, find the blue sign at or near the railroad  crossing and report the emergency/safety concern using the information on  the ENS sign. For damaged or missing signs, contact the USDOT Federal  Railroad Administration at 1-800-232-0144. • All highway-railroad crossings in North Carolina are required to  have an Emergency Notification System (ENS) sign posted in  each traffic direction. The ENS sign, known as the “Blue sign,”  contains the railroad crossing identification number, name of  the railroad company and an emergency telephone number  to report emergencies,  hazardous conditions or issues with railroad crossing lights or  gates directly to the railroad company. Familiarize yourself with  the “Blue Sign “locations at railroad crossings during your travels. REPORT EMERGENCY OR PROBLEM 1–800–XXX–XXXX  X-ING 999 999 Z