Railroad Safety Appliance Act

Railroad Safety Appliance Act

The Safety Appliance Act is a United States federal law that made air brakes and automatic couplers mandatory on all trains in the United States. It was enacted on March 2, 1893 and took effect in 1900, after a 7 year grace period. The act is credited with a sharp drop in accidents on American railroads in the early twentieth century.

Read more about Railroad Safety Appliance Act:  Background, 1893 Act, Amendments, Case Law

Famous quotes containing the words railroad, safety, appliance and/or act:

    “This I saw when waking late,
    Going by at a railroad rate,
    Looking through wreaths of engine smoke
    Far into the lives of other folk.”
    —Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    “The Declaration [of Independence] was not a protest against government, but against the excess of government. It prescribed the proper role of government, to secure the rights of individuals and to effect their safety and happiness. In modern society, no individual can do this alone. So government is not a necessary evil but a necessary good.”
    —Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)

    “Diseases desperate grown
    By desperate appliance are relieved,
    Or not at all.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “It is not enough to ask, ‘Will my act harm other people?’ Even if the answer is No, my act may still be wrong, because of its effects on other people. I should ask, ‘Will my act be one of a set of acts that will together harm other people?’ The answer may be Yes. And the harm to others may be great. If this is so, I may be acting very wrongly, like the Harmless Torturers.”
    —Derek Parfit (b. 1943)