Additional ways you can help after signing the petition:

1. Join the National Quiet Zone Association which adovcates for increasing access to train quiet zones
2. Document your sleep loss experience from train horns here
3. Learn how nighttime train horns do more harm than good for overall public health and safety
   • News
   • Research Paper
4. Email contact@quietzones.us if you have information, ideas, or resources to offer
5. Share this petition with affected friends and family
6. Follow us on X

Background:

In 1991 the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued Emergency Order No. 15 superseding Florida state law--which had allowed local train horn bans--and required train horns to be sounded at train crossings 24/7. The order was written on the basis of an FRA study showing that accidents could increase by as much as 150% attributable to a lack of routine train horn use. However, the adverse public health impacts of noise exposure—particularly sleep disruption and related health outcomes—were not considered even though there is an inherent cost/benefit trade-off of nighttime train horn usage.

New research shows that when comparing the safety benefits from accident prevention against the health costs measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)--a widely used and accepted method of measuring human impact for public policy--shows that the DALYs lost due to noise-induced sleep disturbances and annoyance likely exceed those saved from reduced accidents by 1.5 to 3 times, perhaps much more. 

Help us petition the US Congress and the Federal Railroad Administration to update the regulations to improve overall public health and safety as the original 1994 law intended. Specifically, the law calls for the FRA to minimize "risk with respect to loss of life or serious personal injury." Silencing train horns at night at low-risk crossings where gates, bells, and lights are installed can help better accomplish this legal mandate. There are more than 30,000 such crossings in the United States with nearly 1 million residents estimated to live within 500 feet of them, many of whom are likely to have their sleep regulary disrupted.