674
Opinion of the Court
On their face, the provisions of § 213.9(a) address only the maximum speeds at which trains are permitted to travel given the nature of the track on which they operate. Nevertheless, related safety regulations adopted by the Secretary reveal that the limits were adopted only after the hazards posed by track conditions were taken into account. Understood in the context of the overall structure of the regulations, the speed limits must be read as not only establishing a ceiling, but also precluding additional state regulation of the sort that respondent seeks to impose on petitioner.
Because the conduct of the automobile driver is the major variable in grade crossing accidents, and because trains offer far fewer opportunities for regulatory control, the safety regulations established by the Secretary concentrate on providing clear and accurate warnings of the approach of oncoming trains to drivers.14 Accordingly, the Secretary's regulations focus on providing appropriate warnings given variations in train speed. The MUTCD, for example, requires the installation at grade crossings of signaling devices that provide uniform periods of advance notice regardless of train speed. Manual, at 8C-7. Likewise, as discussed supra, at 666, automatic gates are required for federally funded projects affecting crossings over which trains travel at high speeds. 23 CFR §§ 646.214(b)(3)(C) and (D). Further support for the view that the limits in § 213.9(a) were set with safety concerns already in mind is found in § 213.9(c). Under that section, railroads may petition for permission from the Rail-14 See U. S. Dept. of Transportation, Railroad-Highway Safety, Part I: A Comprehensive Statement of the Problem iv (1971) ("Nearly all grade crossing accidents can be said to be attributable to some degree of 'driver error.' Thus, any effective program for improving [crossing] safety should be oriented around the driver and his needs in approaching, traversing, and leaving the crossing site as safely and efficiently as possible"); see also U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Rail-Highway Crossings Study 8-1 (1989) ("[T]he most influential predictors of train-vehicle accidents at rail-highway crossings are type of warning devices installed, highway traffic volumes, and train volumes. Less influential, but sometimes significant [is] maximum train speed . . .").
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