Level crossing stupidity...

[martin_wynne]

Strange recent incident reported from RAIB today:

 

 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/near-miss-between-a-lorry-and-passenger-train-at-mucking-level-crossing

 

 

[Wickham Green]

14 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

Strange recent incident reported from RAIB today:

 

 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/near-miss-between-a-lorry-and-passenger-train-at-mucking-level-crossing

 

 

Could have been very mucky !

[MarkC]

Just now, martin_wynne said:

Strange recent incident reported from RAIB today:

 

 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/near-miss-between-a-lorry-and-passenger-train-at-mucking-level-crossing

 

 

Strange indeed. Presumably the crossing is fitted with wig-waws & lights as well as the barriers? I suppose it's possible that the driver passed the barriers just as the closing sequence started - had he been going across properly then he would have been clear before the barriers started to lower, but to then stop once the sequence started is scary. I suppose he thought that he could reverse clear and into the work site before the barriers did come down?

 

If ever there was a case for using the crossing phone to contact the signaller, this must surely be it. I wonder if doing that was written into the Risk Assessment for this job?

 

The report should be interesting.

[duncan]

approach from the opposite direction ??

[Hobby]

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Looking at photos of the LC I can't see why they couldn't have. What's worrying, though, is they were NR contractors who should have been aware of the dangers.

[MarkC]

2 hours ago, Hobby said:

What's worrying, though, is they were NR contractors who should have been aware of the dangers.

Not necessarily. I occasionally get contractors on my ship who haven't got a clue, when they first come on board, of many of the potential risks, should safety procedures not be followed.

[Wickham Green]

36 minutes ago, MarkC said:

Not necessarily. I occasionally get contractors on my ship who haven't got a clue, when they first come on board, of many of the potential risks, should safety procedures not be followed.

I guess what Hobby meant to say was "they were NR contractors who should have been MADE aware of the dangers."

[PhilJ W]

Sub-contractors to the NR contractors?

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Wickham Green said:

I guess what Hobby meant to say was "they were NR contractors who should have been MADE aware of the dangers."

In many respects it depends how far the site was from running lines and any dangers from the overheads etc.   But I would have thought (seemingly more in hope than expectation) that any lorry driver would understand not only how level crossings work but how to carry out movements near to them.

[Hobby]

Yes to both WG's and TM's posts. Looking at Google Street view the road is plenty wide enough that the lorry could have reversed into the space from the other direction. I hope the diver gets prosecuted.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5034358,0.4237131,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVoNHjHQgYtpkr1Jgy6jXsg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[Ramblin Rich]

Need some concrete evidence for a prosecution.

 

 

I'll get me coat...

[JDW]

As has already been said above, disregarding whether or not it was possible to arrive from the other direction, it's bad enough that the driver thought it acceptable to stop and reverse on part of the crossing, but certainly if they weren't already aware of the risks then NR should have made sure they were made aware.  Definitely a case where the phone needed to be used.  

 

I haven't looked at a map of the crossing, but regardless of road layout a vehicle having to enter a site so close to a crossing poses a risk whichever way it approaches from.  Either having to stop and reverse in as happened here, or approach from the other side, stop after the crossing, and potentially leave following traffic stuck on the crossing while you wait to manoeuvre and then reverse in.

[jim.snowdon]

I would expect serious questions to be asked of the Principal Contractor for the project, particularly in regard to the assessment of construction risks and work package plans. There is, of course, always the possibility that the risks were correctly identified and the concrete supplier advised, only for the delivery driver to ignore any instructions. The driver of the concrete truck may not even have a direct employee of the concrete company, but working under a franchise type arrangement.

 

Jim 

[Wickham Green]

13 hours ago, JDW said:

As has already been said above, disregarding whether or not it was possible to arrive from the other direction, it's bad enough that the driver thought it acceptable to stop and reverse on part of the crossing, but certainly if they weren't already aware of the risks then NR should have made sure they were made aware.  Definitely a case where the phone needed to be used.  

 

I haven't looked at a map of the crossing, but regardless of road layout a vehicle having to enter a site so close to a crossing poses a risk whichever way it approaches from.  Either having to stop and reverse in as happened here, or approach from the other side, stop after the crossing, and potentially leave following traffic stuck on the crossing while you wait to manoeuvre and then reverse in.

Having now looked up the OS map, it's obvious that arrival from the opposite direction would have involved turning in the hamlet AFTER crossing the railway so that's probably not a realistic option - the driver probably made the most sensible manoeuvre BUT a call to the signaller would have been a good idea beforehand.

[Hobby]

There's a corner with a drive off only100m away from what I could see looking at street view from my earlier post. If it could reverse into the space by the crossing it would be able to turn there.

[West Junction]

Level crossing incident in Austria today,  Essling Wien-Donaustadt. 

16 injured.

 

Article and some interesting pictures on ORF website.

https://wien.orf.at/news/stories/2974010/

[Sir TophamHatt]

Just seen this on Facebook :

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/300842016662071/permalink/2262858317127088/

 

Record from monitoring cameras from yesterday's accident at a railway crossing in Puszczykowo (Poland)

 

The ambulance (thankfully without a patient) entered the railway crossing during the closing of the barriers.

 

Next, the ambulance driver started to perform strange maneuvers instead of breaking off the barriers.

 

After a while, the EP07-450 locomotive running the PKP Intercity train hits it.

 

In the accident, a doctor and a paramedic died, the ambulance driver managed to survive miraculously.

[jwealleans]

Not accessible to non group members - but is this it on YouTube?

[beast66606]

30 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

Not accessible to non group members - but is this it on YouTube?

 

Yes, thats the one

[Wickham Green]

Unbelievable ......... if the ambulance stayed where it was a few seconds earlier it would have been little more than a glancing blow .............

[caradoc]

9 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

Just seen this on Facebook :

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/300842016662071/permalink/2262858317127088/

 

Record from monitoring cameras from yesterday's accident at a railway crossing in Puszczykowo (Poland)

 

The ambulance (thankfully without a patient) entered the railway crossing during the closing of the barriers.

 

Next, the ambulance driver started to perform strange maneuvers instead of breaking off the barriers.

 

After a while, the EP07-450 locomotive running the PKP Intercity train hits it.

 

In the accident, a doctor and a paramedic died, the ambulance driver managed to survive miraculously.

 

That is unbelievable - What on earth was the Ambulance driver thinking ?

 

(Presumably in Poland there is no requirement to prove a full-barrier crossing clear by some means before a train is signalled over it ?)

 

[brushman47544]

But the barrier for the ambulance to “escape” was up for some time, suggesting the ambulance had plenty of warning to stop before the crossing.

[JDW]

57 minutes ago, brushman47544 said:

But the barrier for the ambulance to “escape” was up for some time, suggesting the ambulance had plenty of warning to stop before the crossing.

 

The barrier for him to enter the crossing was down for a good ten seconds before the ambulance came onto the crossing, suggesting he had plenty of warning to stop, let alone the exit barrier...

[railsquid]

'Victim fashion': Netherlands rail defends controversial campaign amid backlash

 

[101]

On 05/04/2019 at 07:16, Sir TophamHatt said:

 

 

In the accident, a doctor and a paramedic died, the ambulance driver managed to survive miraculously.

 

This is apparently the aftermath, surprising that anyone survived