this latest level crossing crash
Discussion
seems to be one per month 
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Video-men-aged-40-4...
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Video-men-aged-40-4...
person1 said:
“I heard the train’s horn blow for some time and then there was this deep thud.
person2 said:
“I worked on trains for the past 28 years and I knew something was wrong as soon as I heard the long horn.
Broken down across track?Why do you think they broke down? If you broke down on a crossing, and the barriers came down then wouldn't you get out of the car? Certainly if you heard the horn you'd get out? Unless there was a reason why they couldn't get out of the car, maybe a disability?
The long horn could have been in response to a vehicle stranded, but could equally have been in response to one which was in the process of commencing to negotiate around the half barriers.
Also one of the residents says "“Changing the barriers to either double or a gate would be a good start." which suggests that they think the car drove onto the crossing around the barrier.
I think the good thing about half barriers is that you can't become "trapped" by them closing around you, because you can always drive straight forward and off. They do, however it seems, present a temptation for some people to drive around them. But we don't know what happened in this case, so lets not jump to any conclusions.
What's important is that the authorities get to understand how and why this happened, so they can help prevent it happening again. (I.e. do they need to change the signs, the barriers, the trains/tracks etc or do they need to step up on driver education?)
The long horn could have been in response to a vehicle stranded, but could equally have been in response to one which was in the process of commencing to negotiate around the half barriers.
Also one of the residents says "“Changing the barriers to either double or a gate would be a good start." which suggests that they think the car drove onto the crossing around the barrier.
I think the good thing about half barriers is that you can't become "trapped" by them closing around you, because you can always drive straight forward and off. They do, however it seems, present a temptation for some people to drive around them. But we don't know what happened in this case, so lets not jump to any conclusions.
What's important is that the authorities get to understand how and why this happened, so they can help prevent it happening again. (I.e. do they need to change the signs, the barriers, the trains/tracks etc or do they need to step up on driver education?)
mrmr96 said:
I think the good thing about half barriers is that you can't become "trapped" by them closing around you, because you can always drive straight forward and off.
This I've always wondered...If you were to ignore the lights and become trapped, surely the barriers aren't like the ones in front of Downing St and American embassies?
Surely you could get out of the way by pushing the barriers?
Got to be preferable to getting hit by a train?
the_lone_wolf said:
If you were to ignore the lights and become trapped, surely the barriers aren't like the ones in front of Downing St and American embassies?
you missed this one?http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225710/Ho...
double barriers bad idea
mrmr96 said:
Why do you think they broke down?
The long horn could have been in response to a vehicle stranded,
but could equally have been in response to one which was in the process of commencing to negotiate around the half barriers.
Also one of the residents says "“Changing the barriers to either double or a gate would be a good start." which suggests that they think the car drove onto the crossing around the barrier.
they might think that but previous post shows it wouldnt be a good startThe long horn could have been in response to a vehicle stranded,
but could equally have been in response to one which was in the process of commencing to negotiate around the half barriers.
Also one of the residents says "“Changing the barriers to either double or a gate would be a good start." which suggests that they think the car drove onto the crossing around the barrier.
Agree about long horn stranded vehicle. What else can a train driver do?
saaby93 said:
the_lone_wolf said:
If you were to ignore the lights and become trapped, surely the barriers aren't like the ones in front of Downing St and American embassies?
you missed this one?http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225710/Ho...
double barriers bad idea
I was at one time a senior executive in Canada's largest railway, and every week we reviewed the accidents. This type of accident is common worldwide. In our cases the trains were a bit slower, but at a mile long could not stop.
A couple of things to remember:
(1) It is often difficult to hear a train coming towards you, and in snow they are basically silent.
(2) A train approaching you is an optical illusion. It appears to be travelling more slowly than it is in fact
(3) People often travel across ungated crossings immediately after the train passes ,even in the warning lights/bells/flashers are still operating and get hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction.
(4) Never try to get you car off the track if its stuck. Get out fast. The train is unlikely to derail.
I saw literally hundreds of reports and photos of this type of accident. The train never loses, even against an 18 wheeler.
A couple of things to remember:
(1) It is often difficult to hear a train coming towards you, and in snow they are basically silent.
(2) A train approaching you is an optical illusion. It appears to be travelling more slowly than it is in fact
(3) People often travel across ungated crossings immediately after the train passes ,even in the warning lights/bells/flashers are still operating and get hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction.
(4) Never try to get you car off the track if its stuck. Get out fast. The train is unlikely to derail.
I saw literally hundreds of reports and photos of this type of accident. The train never loses, even against an 18 wheeler.
RDMcG said:
I was at one time a senior executive in Canada's largest railway, and every week we reviewed the accidents. This type of accident is common worldwide. In our cases the trains were a bit slower, but at a mile long could not stop.
A couple of things to remember:
(1) It is often difficult to hear a train coming towards you, and in snow they are basically silent.
(2) A train approaching you is an optical illusion. It appears to be travelling more slowly than it is in fact
(3) People often travel across ungated crossings immediately after the train passes ,even in the warning lights/bells/flashers are still operating and get hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction.
(4) Never try to get you car off the track if its stuck. Get out fast. The train is unlikely to derail.
I saw literally hundreds of reports and photos of this type of accident. The train never loses, even against an 18 wheeler.
Another oft overlooked one, never cross the leading barrier until your exit is 100% clear and there's room to move your car past the exit barrier. I pass through a town centre level crossing quite frequently and it amazes me the number of people who will queue inside the barriers A couple of things to remember:
(1) It is often difficult to hear a train coming towards you, and in snow they are basically silent.
(2) A train approaching you is an optical illusion. It appears to be travelling more slowly than it is in fact
(3) People often travel across ungated crossings immediately after the train passes ,even in the warning lights/bells/flashers are still operating and get hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction.
(4) Never try to get you car off the track if its stuck. Get out fast. The train is unlikely to derail.
I saw literally hundreds of reports and photos of this type of accident. The train never loses, even against an 18 wheeler.
mrmr96 said:
Yeah, there's a barrier both sides, but the point is that it's flimsy enough that your car could push it out of the way. It would wreck the barrier and damage the car, but at least you'd avoid the train.
on the spur of the moment they dont think like thatSee this one at 1:20 where they realise they shouldnt go through a red light and attempt to reverse back across the track and through the now closed single barrier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI8mXzEJFfE
Edited by saaby93 on Wednesday 10th April 17:36
BliarOut said:
Another oft overlooked one, never cross the leading barrier until your exit is 100% clear and there's room to move your car past the exit barrier. I pass through a town centre level crossing quite frequently and it amazes me the number of people who will queue inside the barriers
Yep. I see this quite often. Scares the living daylights out of me!A favourite of my local, as there's a junction (to a car park) only meters from the crossing, is to pull away (clearing part of the way) then suddenly STOP! to allow a car (unsighted from the actual crossing) out.
So you wait for the car in front to go, he does, but then suddenly stops leaving you half over the crossing and half on the road.
If you didn't know the junction was there, and don't anticipate the stupidity of other drivers, you'd quite easily get stuck.
See also, people who stop dead at the top of escalators.
BliarOut said:
Another oft overlooked one, never cross the leading barrier until your exit is 100% clear and there's room to move your car past the exit barrier. I pass through a town centre level crossing quite frequently and it amazes me the number of people who will queue inside the barriers
Yep, I see this all the time 
. It makes me laugh when the guy behind starts getting all irate, because I wait for the space between the gates to clear enough. I even had one nugget overtake me, only to get stopped across the tracks, with no chance of getting across should the barriers drop. I don't know how it works, but I would hope that there would be someone in a control room somewhere who could attempt to red light an approaching train, if needs be, in this situation.saaby93 said:
the_lone_wolf said:
If you were to ignore the lights and become trapped, surely the barriers aren't like the ones in front of Downing St and American embassies?
you missed this one?http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225710/Ho...
double barriers bad idea
t The crossing has to be proved clear by eyes / radar / CCTV before the signalling will allow the train to proceed. Looks scary but actually very safe.
MajorProblem said:
Barriers have special fracture bolts so they are designed to come clean off in an impact.
Maybe so but should members of the public know that?MajorProblem said:
The crossing has to be proved clear by eyes / radar / CCTV before the signalling will allow the train to proceed. Looks scary but actually very safe.
Do you mean gated crossings? or would it be expensive to do the same to half barrier crossings? saaby93 said:
MajorProblem said:
Barriers have special fracture bolts so they are designed to come clean off in an impact.
Maybe so but should members of the public know that?MajorProblem said:
The crossing has to be proved clear by eyes / radar / CCTV before the signalling will allow the train to proceed. Looks scary but actually very safe.
Do you mean gated crossings? or would it be expensive to do the same to half barrier crossings? saaby93 said:
the_lone_wolf said:
If you were to ignore the lights and become trapped, surely the barriers aren't like the ones in front of Downing St and American embassies?
you missed this one?http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225710/Ho...
double barriers bad idea
Jeesuz, how feckin hard is it to realise that you shouldn't blindly follow the vehicle in front onto such a crossing, unless you are 100% certain that there is enough space for you to clear the far barrier before you pass beyond the barrier on the 'home bank'.
Glad to see that the tit driving the bus was charged over that. He also lost his job, and ended up with a £300 fine and nine points.
Yet "He is now a bus driver with New Horizon Travel, in Frating."
Jesus H Tittyf
king Christ! He gets a school bus stuck on a railway line due to a combination of negligence and stupidity, has 9 points put on his license, and he still manages to get a job driving unsuspecting members of the public. WTF?Sometimes, you just have to accept that Darwin was right. Some people just cannot be educated. Take this.. http://goo.gl/maps/W7MZl ..crossing on the A30 in Sunnigdale. Subject to so much terminal idiocy, that the addition of a painted 'yellow box' was deemed necessary, yet I regularly see morons waiting ON the tracks because the traffic ahead is snarled up by yet more feckwits who are unable to fathom the meaning of "Merge In Turn". Heaven only knows how many times I have received an impatient blast of someone's horn because I value my life and wait behind the line until my exit is clear. Truly unbelievable.
After watching the antics on some of the footage, I`m amazed that they have an ounce of common sense. I recently saw footage of a bollard that rises out of the ground and can stop a truck ! how about installing something like it !!!! The railway companies receive enough money from the government, also it would create a few jobs. Once the barrier is up, there is no way to pass ! A flimsy drop down barrier does not stop numpties, a rising steel wall might do the job.
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