Safety and railway disasters

Trains can travel at very high speed, but they are heavy, are unable to deviate from the track and require a great distance to stop. Although rail transport is one of the safest forms of travel, there are many possibilities for accidents to take place. These can vary from the minor derailment (jumping the track), a head-on collision with another train and collision with an automobile or other vehicle at a level crossing/grade crossing. Level crossing collisions are relatively common in the United States where there are several thousand each year killing about 500 people (the comparable figures for the United Kingdom are 30 collisions and 12 casualties). For information regarding major accidents, see List of rail accidents.