(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the driver of any vehicle described in rules and regulations issued pursuant to subsection (c), before crossing at grade any track or tracks of a railroad, shall stop such vehicle within 50 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail of such railroad and while so stopped shall listen and look in both directions along such track for any approaching train, and for signals indicating the approach of a train, and shall not proceed until such driver can do so safely. After stopping as required and upon proceeding when it is safe to do so, the driver of any vehicle shall cross only in such gear of the vehicle that there will be no necessity for manually changing gears while traversing such crossings and the driver shall not manually shift gears while crossing the track or tracks.

(b) This section shall not apply at:

(1) Any railroad grade crossing at which traffic is controlled by a police officer or human flagman;

(2) any railroad grade crossing at which traffic is controlled by a functioning highway traffic signal transmitting a green indication which, under local law, permits a vehicle to proceed across the railroad tracks without slowing or stopping;

(3) any abandoned railroad grade crossing which is marked with a sign indicating that the rail line is abandoned;

(4) any industrial or spur line railroad grade crossing marked with a sign reading “Exempt.” Such exempt signs shall be erected only by or with the consent of the appropriate state or local authority;

(5) a railroad grade crossing used exclusively for industrial switching purposes, within a business district defined in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 8-1407, and amendments thereto.

(c) The secretary of transportation, in conjunction with the state corporation commission, shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary describing the vehicles which must comply with the stopping requirements of this section. Such rules and regulations shall correlate with and so far as possible conform to the federal motor carrier safety regulations of the United States department of transportation.