In 1984, the State of Florida passed a law allowing local governments to ban trains from sounding their horns in certain areas. The horn bans were popular among local residents, but it soon became clear that quiet trains came at a high cost.

Within the first five years of the train horn bans being in effect, the Florida East Coast Railroad became the deadliest stretch of railroad in the nation. A federal investigation found the skyrocketing death rate along the corridor was in large part due to the horn ban, and, in 1991, the Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order requiring trains to blow their horns once again.

By the time faster Brightline trains began running along the same tracks in 2018, those key safety measures had been rolled back. Once again, local governments

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