Following crash, transportation board asks apps to include rail crossing alerts

Three cars of a Southern California Metrolink commuter train derailed and tumbled onto their sides after a collision with a truck on tracks in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles.

It's hard for many of us to imagine get around these days without our smartphone's GPS.

We depend on apps like Waze and Google Maps to direct us to the quickest route and to alert us to things like car accidents, road construction, even lurking police cars.

But one thing seems to be missing - railroad crossings.

The National Transportation Safety Board would like to see that change. For more, Alex Cohen spoke with Robert Molloy, director of the office of highway safety for the NTSB. The agency came out with a recommendation that tech companies include alerts in apps about railroad crossings following its investigation of a fatal accident in Oxnard between a truck and Metrolink train in 2015.

It's hard for many of us to imagine get around these days without our smartphone's GPS.

To listen to the full interview, click on the blue media player above.