nationwide. no lights. just a sign. it was save lives. reporter: chair jennifer says the agency has been urging better warnings since 1998. we continue to push for infrastructure improvements like gates, bells, whistles. there are many different ways to address safety at crossings but doing nothing is not the right answer. reporter: the ntsb says about half of the crossings in the u.s. are passive. 30,000 nationwide. last year 812 collisions at the crossings. according to federal data. last week three women killed when the car was hit by a train at this uncontrolled rail crossing near san francisco. every one is preventable. reporter: were you afraid of this intersection?
it is called a passive rail crossings and experts warn how dangerous they can be. reporter: missouri farmer mike spencer knew there was an accident waiting to happen in the middle of his field. see this. reporter: it was two weeks ago he posted this video on facebook juaning of a dangerous crossing. monday an amtrak train slammed into a dump truck. hit a truck. reporter: this could have happened almost anywhere. we ll start to watch for trains way back. reporter: another example of a passive or uncontrolled rail crossing. drivers have to watch out. there are tens of thousands of uncontrolled rail crossings
railroad crossing. on monday, it was here that an amtrak train slammed into a dump truck, killing the driver. three train passengers and injuring dozens more. but this could have happened almost anywhere. we ll start watching for trains way back. ome a couple of miles away another example of what is known as a passive or uncontrolled rail crossing. meaning it is up to drivers alone to watch out for oncoming trains. there are tens of thousands of uncontrolled rail crossings nationwide. no lights, no electronic barriers, just a sign. and it is very urgent because it would save lives. reporter: jennifer homan said the agency has been urging better warnings on crossing like this since 1998. we continue to push for infrastructure improvements like gates, bells, whistles, and hope that those do get installed. there are many different ways of addressing safety at crossings,