Level crossing stupidity...

[peanuts]

thats one of my biggest fears with foot crossings like that, i hate it when the back end of a train in the opposite direction has just cleared the crossing as i approach, i always sound the horn an extra time in those situations

 

looking at the vid, as 96701 says other peoples actions could have an influence on the outcome, in reality the range rover driver shouldnt have opened the gate until the 2nd train had passed (as the signaller would have hopefully instructed him) and it was lucky that he decieded to open it when he did, had he done so a few minutes earlier in preperation for the trains passing then the cyclist may well have been still mounted and travelling at speed as either one of the trains arrived and not been so lucky to be just needing new undies and not a funeral

always thought the correct procedure was to open the exit gate first bafore the entry gate so you couldnt get trapped o the crossing ?

[Grovenor]

always thought the correct procedure was to open the exit gate first bafore the entry gate so you couldnt get trapped o the crossing ?

Rather difficult to get to the exit gate before you open the entry gate!

You are supoposed to open both gates, then drive across, then close both gates, so if you are alone that's 4 trips across on foot.

Best to take two friends with you who just need to make 1 trip each.

Regards

[lmsforever]

A foot crossing on the Aylesbury Town to Parkway line has been closed due to near miss this week ,BBC SouthToday did a piece and whilst there showed an idiot climbing over the barriers ,also usual moans from locals about having to walk farther to cross line.Combine this with the death south of the town and its been a bad time round here.

[big jim]

A foot crossing on the Aylesbury Town to Parkway line has been closed due to near miss this week ,BBC SouthToday did a piece and whilst there showed an idiot climbing over the barriers ,also usual moans from locals about having to walk farther to cross line.Combine this with the death south of the town and its been a bad time round here.

Which crossing is that, Griffin lane?

 

The foot crossings leaving Aylesbury towards little Kimble are horrible, back in the black and white days they were merely paths between farmers fields now they well used thoroughfares between pretty substantial housing estates both sides of the tracks, although I've never had a near miss on any of them I have seen plently of people cross in front of me on them

[royaloak]

There's a point here about fate and other people's actions. I reckon that if the woman with the Range Rover hadn't been there, the lad with the bike would have had to stop to open the gate, and probably the pedestrian gate. That would have made him stop and think about his surroundings. The fact that he just breezed through the already open gate was the point where things started to go wrong. 

You might think that, I dont agree!

[Reorte]

You might think that, I dont agree!

Maybe not, but when someone has to stop to do something they're more likely to check. Not certainly, but more likely.

[lmsforever]

Yes its Griffin Lane  quite a busy one .

[beast66606]

always thought the correct procedure was to open the exit gate first bafore the entry gate so you couldnt get trapped o the crossing ?

 

I've certainly seen instructions stating the same - and at the crossing in the video there appears to be pedestrian gates which mean there is no requirement to open the near road gate first. I always open the far gate first, not because I would drive onto the crossing and then open it, but to demonstrate to any of the simple folk who may be watching how to do it safely. I have no sympathy for poor drivers having to walk back and forth several times, use a different route if you don't fancy the walk - which is hardly marathon length.

 

To be fair to the car driver, he opens the gate as the first train passes, he might not be fully aware at that time there is a second train approaching because his view is blocked, yes he should wait until he can ascertain the lines are clear, however he was not in a position to cross at that point and opening the gate is not fundamentally wrong* (I assume he wasn't planning on driving onto the crossing and parking to open the far gate) and the idi cyclist makes no attempt to check if the lines were clear before crossing - he is responsible for his own safety.

 

* at the crossings I use farm vehicles will open both gates first and then phone the bobby to get permission to cross. There is no point in phoning first and then finding the gate is stuck and it takes longer to open than you expected and the train which was 5-10 miles away is now bearing down on you, you open the gates so when the bobby says "Safe to cross now", you do exactly that.

[uax6]

Also when people ring up to speak to us bobbies, its amazing how many don't listen to what we say. What I say is 'Cross quickly, close both gates and call me back' Not difficult, but its amazing how many don't listen after you have said cross quickly, so I say increase my volume as I talk, so its obvious that there is more things to do.

But if it delays trains, it just goes against cross misuse, as if I don't get a call back I WILL caution the next train.

 

Andy G

[Colin_McLeod]

Cyclists often ignore red lights stop signs etc. If they don't follow the rules then it's only chance whether they get hit by a car or a train.

 

Edit for two typos.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Colin_McLeod

[AncientMariner]

A few years back, I had just signed off a ship in Belgium, I was in my taxi, and on my way to the airport.  Within the first couple of hundred yards of my journey we were stopped at a rail crossing, which was ungated but protected by alternately flashing red lights and an audible signal.  We were still within the port complex, and therefore on private land, access to which was through a manned security gate, and only personnel and vehicles with a valid reason to be in the complex were given access.

 

We could clearly see the train approaching, but we could also see that it was moving slowly, and that it was some distance off.  My taxi driver stayed put, but the drivers of several other vehicles decided it was safe enough to ignore the red lights, and nipped across the track ahead of the approaching train.  I recall at least one guy even pulling out to overtake our stationary taxi to get across.

 

When I commented to the taxi driver on the situation, he responded with words to the effect that terminal security would have seen this on CCTV, and that the miscreants, having breached the port company safety regulations, would be banned from the terminal, and told to leave immediately, regardless of whether or not they had completed their business within the complex.  As pretty well all traffic was commercial, not a lot of imagination is needed to see what sort of impact this could have on their businesses.  The taxi driver was used regularly by shipping agents to transport crew members to and from their ships, and he wanted to keep that work.

 

Of course, a sanction like that is hardly enforceable on a public highway.

 

John

[RJS1977]

Just tear up their driving licence...

[uax6]

Just tear up their driving licence...

Which sadly achieves nothing as these days they just continue to drive...

 

Andy G

[peanuts]

think this may be a sulution ?https://www.facebook.com/502638333138275/videos/1201294006606034/

[LMS2968]

Good for the garage trade too!

[Coryton]

think this may be a sulution ?https://www.facebook.com/502638333138275/videos/1201294006606034/

 

Odd.

 

Seems to be a dual carriageway with half-barriers on each side so they only block one of the two lanes in each direction. Why would you do that?

[LMS2968]

Not a dual carriageway, and over there they drive on the right. The barrier comes down across the right hand lane, the rising barrier across the left hand lane to prevent people trying to bypass the lowered barrier by using the wrong side of the road. Traffic trapped on the crossing and coming off it would depress the rising barrier by passing over it in a trailing direction.

[Budgie]

Not a dual carriageway, and over there they drive on the right.

<panto>

Oh yes it is!

</panto>

 

Have you actually run the video? You can clearly see the traffic going in the opposite direction on the other carriageway.

 

Alternatively it's two one-way streets, separated by a median strip.

[gismorail]

think this may be a sulution ?https://www.facebook.com/502638333138275/videos/1201294006606034/

I like it stopped dead in he's tracks and not on 'the track' 

[Grovenor]

Seems to be a dual carriageway with half-barriers on each side so they only block one of the two lanes in each direction. Why would you do that?

Probably the end of the gate boom already broken off. Expensive though to have a full time attendant to pick up the bits broken off the cars, or is that a franchise operation?

Regards

[highpeakman]

Not sure if this is a half barrier or have they all gone now?

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38497315

[beast66606]

Not sure if this is a half barrier or have they all gone now?

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38497315

 

Plenty of AHBs still in use.

[Arthur]

 

Sadly another fatality this morning at Lidlington, in Bedfordshire. Nobody on the train physically injured it seems.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/03/driver-killed-after-car-hit-by-train-at-bedfordshire-level-crossing.

 

.

[4630]

A list of all Network Rail level crossings as at September 2016 is here .

 

The page also contains a link to data in an Excel file which provides additional information, including type of level crossing installed.

[highpeakman]

OK. Marston crossing is half barrier. Have to wait and see if that was a contributing factor.

Edited January 3, 2017 by highpeakman