New BT police level crossing footage.

[Colin_McLeod]

Sorry. I'm not buying it. Incredibly fishy.

 

From the identity obscuring attire (wasn't a cold day) and the predetermined lock up brake point, to the ridiculously melodramatic brow mop.

 

Nope; perp is probably making a fortune spreadbetting this as a viral.

 

Time now for the conspiracy theories.  Perhaps BTP set it all up for the safety campaign.  (NOT!!!)

 

Why do you say that the lock up was predetermined?  Adrenalin can give us all superstrength in life threatening situations.

 

The woman's behaviour immediately after the near miss appears to me to be consistent with total shock at what nearly happened. Turning back to go home (or somewhere she could sit down for a few minutes) seems natural also. Or, as someone pointed out above, perhaps she really did need to go back for clean pants.

[Dunsignalling]

Unfortunately there are millions of thick as pigs**t people out there. Half barriers do not help either. I think all level crossings should be full barriers, placed a little further back where possible, with more lights and audio warnings. Extend the time also. Will cost ££ & road users a little more time, but lives will be saved.

 

Brit15

I've always thought level crossings would work better if the barriers rose up out of the road and looked something like WW2 'Dragons Teeth' tank traps - more expensive but no avoiding them!

 

John

[stewartingram]

Bike gets tangled up with something on train, dislodges something which flies up and breaks a train window or even derails a vehicle/the train.  That is why staff are not supposed to leave even light tools anywhere near a passing train - things could get whipped up in thh slipstream and hit them or the train.

We had one of these on the Central line in recent times. A roll of thick plastic sheeting was left unsecured, in a cross passage somewhere near Mile End, actually quite well away from the running line I'm told. The turbulence of passing trains in the tunnel disturbed it, it unfurled and derailed a passenger train.

 

Stewart

[Nimbus]

But she was riding down the centre line of the road - presumably to go around the barrier, a deliberate act, regardless if 'foreign'.

 

Or to pass vehicles obeying the signal?

 

The Nim.

[SM42]

Full barriers have more chance of trapping people/vehicles too.

 

Full barrier crossings in the UK  tend to have a human monitoring them before trains are signalled over the crossing so someone or something becoming trapped would be unlikely. This does not as you say prevent reckless behaviour and I've seen a lot of that. The crossing in this case appears automatic thus the half barrier allowing an escape route.

 

The unfortunate consequence is as seen here is that is also allows an access route and this sort of behaviour at crossings of all types is probably more widespread than reported because there are often no witnesses to the misuse.

 

Getting away with misusing a crossing (no fine or near miss with train etc) in my opinion reinforces a casual attitude to crossings which in time could result in tragedy.

 

It may be that the lady involved here had done this before without such a result and didn't think twice about being able to carry out the same actions again.

 

It could be the cyclist's attitude to red lights as mentioned above.

 

It could be a sheer lack of attention. Who knows?

 

One thing is for sure is that she may think twice about it  next time and I sincerely hope that the train driver has not been adversely affected by this.

 

 

Andy

 

P.S. Day time running lights are compulsory all year round  in Poland. Evidence from other countries also suggests that pedestrains and (motor)cyclists get lost in the sea of lights and hence accidents invoving these road users increase. The day time running light is I believe an EU driven regulation.

[Mallard60022]

On another viewing of this elsewhere she is seen to be standing (near the crossing presumably?) shortly afterwards looking very bemused. It will be interesting to hear her side of the tale if she gets interviewed. 

When I was 'driving' out of Wolsztyn there were 'favourite Xings' where road users would take huge risks as trains approached on the Poznan run; many of these were ungated as well. The crews knew where they were and always 'woke up' just before them. Loads of whistle was the order of the day (and or horn on the 2.8.2s)

It is possible that this lass was from Europe where behaviour may be different? Who knows at the moment?

P

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Sorry. I'm not buying it. Incredibly fishy.

 

From the identity obscuring attire (wasn't a cold day) and the predetermined lock up brake point, to the ridiculously melodramatic brow mop.

 

Nope; perp is probably making a fortune spreadbetting this as a viral.

As I posted earlier, I don't believe a deliberate (indeed cupid)  stunt is outwith the bounds of possibility. Plenty of daft folks, plenty of use of 'substances' etc. 

 

What will it cost to bridge all the fast running lines that currently have level crossings? Relatively few folk seem to drive or jump off those.

[The Stationmaster]

But she was riding down the centre line of the road - presumably to go around the barrier, a deliberate act, regardless if 'foreign'.

It seems to be an increasing common behaviour on the part of cyclists at traffic lights round our way - they just dash up on the offside of the queueing vehicles.

[Kenton]

 

I genuinely don't understand how any of the train passengers lives were in danger.

Ever been a passenger on a train whilst emergency braking is applied? Think broken limbs, head injuries, flying projectiles and that is before any results of shock - including the gruesome results of an impact of soft body tissue with a hard large moving object.

 

Perhaps folk live too sheltered a life and are left cocooned in their own shells protected from the true outcomes of life and death?

[kevinlms]

Came across this video. You can hardly blame the driver as the 'authorities' (in Hungary?) haven't even bothered to provide a white line to indicate where to stop safely.

 

 

Unsurprisingly, a very p****d off driver leaves the scene, with the crossing in a highly dangerous state.

[Boris]

I personally think people climbing over barriers at crossings or weaving around them is a very real example of Darwinism in action.  Either their parents are close genetic relatives or maybe they were grown in a lab, the first successful interbreeding of a human and a gerbil.

[PhilJ W]

Came across this video. You can hardly blame the driver as the 'authorities' (in Hungary?) haven't even bothered to provide a white line to indicate where to stop safely.

 

 

Unsurprisingly, a very p****d off driver leaves the scene, with the crossing in a highly dangerous state.

What if the car carrier that passed the stopped truck had been hit by a train?

[brightspark]

Ah The European Daytime lighting regulations. Apparently something Europe is forcing onto us. NO! it is a half baked idea from the TRRL or what ever they call themselves these days (who are a UK government organisation). The legislation was pushed through by the UK governemnt. I found the "consultation" paper a few years ago and managed to respond. Well over 80% of respondents said that daytime lights were a bad idea and don't work. 

Reasons given;

* You can't judge the speed and distance of a light.

*It makes other road users invisible (as stated above).

*There have been cases of other road users confusing light beams as a please pull out signal (Had near me when a police motorcycle on an emergency call torpedoed a car that just did that and didn't spot the blue lights)

*Emergency lights are harder to spot (for the reason above)

*When entering tunnels out of bright sunlight, lights coming toward you make it harder (longer to readjust eyesight to the dark) to see the road markings and the edge of the road.

 

There were several suggestions that instead of fixing more lights onto cars that the laws should be changed that restrict the brightness of lights. At the moment the law controls wattage but todays lamps and LED's etc are getting brighter. So much in some cases that it is almost impossible to make out the colour of some lights (is that a car coming towards me or the rear lights?)

 

However you will glad to hear that the majority (anti safety brigade) were dismissed from the report as we had only hearsay evidence and were not professionals in that specific sphere. So the only votes that counted are Researchers (who vote yes in the hope that their work will be accepted) Government civil servant (whom being civil servants can only vote for the professional/qualified opinion) Automotive Lamp and lighting companies (I have no idea why they would think it a good idea), the AA, RAC etc (same reason) as well as car manufacturers (same reason again)

 

The logic behind the report and the regulation?

It was observed that emergency vehicles as well as other cars that had main lights on could be seen in traffic. Therefore if everyone has lights on you can see all of the traffic.

But then what do I know...my vote don't count.

 

Grrrrrr

 

For further evidence of the UK government interest in such matters have a look at daytime lights for motorcycles. There was a piece of legislation put before the house but it failed. So the powers to be then decided to put this into the highway code. Now the official version is that the highway code is only "advice". Aha! but if you are riding a motorcycle and you find yourself in a collision with anther vehicle and you can't prove that you had you headlight on (as in the highway code) then you are deemed to be at fault by your insurance company and the police. Effectively a back door law that gave the legislators what they wanted!

 

Hence all the excitement about the last changes to the highway code by cycling groups. (ps the highway code is up for review soon so keep an eye out for it)

[uax6]

Interestingly Waterbeach AHBC is one of the worst ones around here. The road leading away in the background of the CCTV picture is narrow and goes through the village, and always has cars parked down one side. The road is heavily used during the peaks, and it's not unusual to have motorists caught inbetween the barriers as they queue to go through the village.

 

Sometimes I wonder if the 27 seconds from the reds coming on to the train crossing is too long......

 

BTW I often don't hear the trains when I'm in work, and thats with the box door open....

 

Andy G

[stewartingram]

Ah The European Daytime lighting regulations. Apparently something Europe is forcing onto us. NO! it is a half baked idea from the TRRL or what ever they call themselves these days (who are a UK government organisation). The legislation was pushed through by the UK governemnt. I found the "consultation" paper a few years ago and managed to respond. Well over 80% of respondents said that daytime lights were a bad idea and don't work. 

Reasons given;

* You can't judge the speed and distance of a light.

*It makes other road users invisible (as stated above).

*There have been cases of other road users confusing light beams as a please pull out signal (Had near me when a police motorcycle on an emergency call torpedoed a car that just did that and didn't spot the blue lights)

*Emergency lights are harder to spot (for the reason above)

*When entering tunnels out of bright sunlight, lights coming toward you make it harder (longer to readjust eyesight to the dark) to see the road markings and the edge of the road.

 

There were several suggestions that instead of fixing more lights onto cars that the laws should be changed that restrict the brightness of lights. At the moment the law controls wattage but todays lamps and LED's etc are getting brighter. So much in some cases that it is almost impossible to make out the colour of some lights (is that a car coming towards me or the rear lights?)

 

However you will glad to hear that the majority (anti safety brigade) were dismissed from the report as we had only hearsay evidence and were not professionals in that specific sphere. So the only votes that counted are Researchers (who vote yes in the hope that their work will be accepted) Government civil servant (whom being civil servants can only vote for the professional/qualified opinion) Automotive Lamp and lighting companies (I have no idea why they would think it a good idea), the AA, RAC etc (same reason) as well as car manufacturers (same reason again)

 

The logic behind the report and the regulation?

It was observed that emergency vehicles as well as other cars that had main lights on could be seen in traffic. Therefore if everyone has lights on you can see all of the traffic.

But then what do I know...my vote don't count.

 

Grrrrrr

 

For further evidence of the UK government interest in such matters have a look at daytime lights for motorcycles. There was a piece of legislation put before the house but it failed. So the powers to be then decided to put this into the highway code. Now the official version is that the highway code is only "advice". Aha! but if you are riding a motorcycle and you find yourself in a collision with anther vehicle and you can't prove that you had you headlight on (as in the highway code) then you are deemed to be at fault by your insurance company and the police. Effectively a back door law that gave the legislators what they wanted!

 

Hence all the excitement about the last changes to the highway code by cycling groups. (ps the highway code is up for review soon so keep an eye out for it)

Very well put sir!

 

Stewart

[Colin_McLeod]

 Ever been a passenger on a train whilst emergency braking is applied? Think broken limbs, head injuries, flying projectiles and that is before any results of shock - including the gruesome results of an impact of soft body tissue with a hard large moving object.

 

Perhaps folk live too sheltered a life and are left cocooned in their own shells protected from the true outcomes of life and death?

Kenton, Yes I have been on a passenger train whilst emergency braking is applied. It is nothing like the movies with flying projectiles, broken limbs etc. We are talking trains, not buses. I have experienced emergency braking (vacuum braked) train during brake tests. The only noticible difference between a full service brake and the emergency brake was that the brakes started to act sooner, but the measured decelleration of the train was the same. However the quicker commencement of decelleration did make a significant difference to the overall stopping distance. 

[The Evil Bus Driver]

I actually went up to some network Rail people doing the safety awareness leaflet thing at Shoreham-by-Sea recently and said they should be going back to gates rather than barriers and they said "we're trying to get rid of those" and I said "well, they keep the track completely enclosed and make it much more difficult to jump over" and they were like "just don't mention Plumpton" (Where the gates and box are listed) right after I did mention Plumpton...

[scorpion]

I have once experienced an emergency brake application, horse on the line, I can assure you that it was way beyond normal

[John_Hughes]

I have once experienced an emergency brake application, horse on the line, I can assure you that it was way beyond normal

 

Ditto with a sheep when we were coming down Talerddig Bank one evening; we must have been doing the full line limit (90 back then IIRC) and everything that wasn't fixed down went flying. Luckily no-one on-board was hurt, though the sheep was a fatality!

[The Stationmaster]

I actually went up to some network Rail people doing the safety awareness leaflet thing at Shoreham-by-Sea recently and said they should be going back to gates rather than barriers and they said "we're trying to get rid of those" and I said "well, they keep the track completely enclosed and make it much more difficult to jump over" and they were like "just don't mention Plumpton" (Where the gates and box are listed) right after I did mention Plumpton...

The collision rate at gated crossings used to be considerably higher than that at barriered crossings but generally the collision tended to be with the gates and not with a train.

 

As far as emergency brake applications are concerned it depends on the rolling stock and type of brake but with some EPB brakes on British stock the rate of retardation is at higher pervcentage of g with the brake in emergency than it is with a normal full service brake application.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

....maybe her copy of 'The Highway Code' was delayed in the post. 

 

Dave

[raymw]

It's the usual trend of spreading responsibility. It used to be, when the railways started in UK, that the railway company was responsible for what took place on the railway property. Tracks were completely fenced off, including gates substantial enough at the time to prevent pedestrian, vehicle and livestock access, or at least that was the principle. Over time, usually as an effort to save money, (the usual method is by reducing the number of workers), the responsibility goes elsewhere. This applies to industries/institutions other than railways, of course. This is one of the results of the ascendancy of 'greed' in business/personal behaviour. Whether the savings are worthwhile depends on which side of the fence (or crossing barrier) you find yourself, I guess.

In the  same way that some businesses 'try to get away with it', some individuals try to get away with it. Sometimes it doesn't turn out as they hoped.

Publishing the video is unlikely to reduce the number of these incidents that occur, but that can never be proved, of course.

[Colin_McLeod]

Not all savings are due to greed. Many are also due to improving efficiency.

[Adrian Wintle]

Ah The European Daytime lighting regulations. Apparently something Europe is forcing onto us. NO! it is a half baked idea from the TRRL or what ever they call themselves these days (who are a UK government organisation). The legislation was pushed through by the UK governemnt. I found the "consultation" paper a few years ago and managed to respond. Well over 80% of respondents said that daytime lights were a bad idea and don't work. 

 

We've had daytime running lights in Canada since 1990. My personal opinion is that they are a good thing. They allow you to see oncoming vehicles at a geater distance and allow you to judge closing rate more easily (as long as both lights are lit - your mind works out closing rate from the change in spacing). They are particularly useful when the lighting conditions limit visibility (haze, shadow, etc.)

 

Adrian

[Arthur]

Wasn't the introduction of barriers rather than gates driven as much by the need to accommodate both faster rail traffic and increasingly busy roads i.e. the closing and opening of old style gates was too slow, closing off the road for longer than seemed acceptable?