Signal Inspection Act

Prior to 1970 most governmental actions were supportive of informational or liability responses to market failure. The Carmack Amendment of 1906 made railroad strictly liable for loss and damage to freight. The Federal Employers Liability Act of 1908 established liability for occupational injuries. The Accident Reports Act of 1910 required railroads to provide information on accidents. The same act allowed the ICC to investigate railroad accidents. These powers were transferred to the NTSB in 1974. Signal failures have had to be reported to the government since the Signal Inspection Act of 1920. 

CFR 233 Signal Systan Reporting (Signal Inspection Act 1920, 1937, 1984) Requires the filing of signal failure reports and any accidents that result from them. 

Contains a statement of FRA policy concerning enforcement of safety laws. The FRA can inqx)se civil penalties. The amount of the penalty is indicated in each section of the federal regulations. The Safety Appliance, Boiler Inspection, Signal Inspection, Accident Report, and Hours of Service Acts also allow for collection of civil penalties. The RSIA 1988 increased the amount of the fines. A 1983 amendment made railroads strictly liable for any penalties, irrespective of whether they were aware of the violation "It shall be unlawful... 

Figure 1.9 shows an example of detecting a glass transition beneath a cold crystallisation exotherm. The total heat flow corresponds to a conventional DSC experiment. It is not possible from inspection of the distorted peak in this curve to conclude that it is formed from an exotherm (from the crystallisation of PET) superimposed on a glass-rubber transition (from the polycarbonate). The additional signals of MTDSC make this interpretation clear. In this case, the crystallisation acts like a chemical reaction once formed the crystals remain as the temperature increases through the peak. Thus, the process is non-reversing. 

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