General Chat

In September my son and I spent 4 days driving round northern France and Belgium. No barriers at level crossings in the country, just normal traffic lights and everyone stops when they are red. No fences on the railway tracks running around Calais, yet you do not see yobs or children tresspassing on them. People there have enough intelligence to respect the hazards of high-speed trains and act accordingly. We on the other hand have been molly-coddled from the cradle to the grave for so long we have bred a nation of wimps and yobs. Sunday was a good example - due respect to the victims of the recent train crash, but did The Railway Children have to be postponed by ITV? Good grief, it is a children's story set in an age before cars were even on the roads, let alone stopped on a level crossing. Surely no one could have made a connection between the crash in Berkshire and the landslide in the film. Sometimes I despair for my country.

I dont think any crossings are actualy manned anymore, we have a crossing in the middle of totton that has gates that used to be closed by the signalman but now come down automaticaly after the warning lights, a few years ago there was an elderly driver who who got confused when the gates went up thinking he or she was at a road junction and turned left onto the track, luckily someone called for help on the emergency phone or there would have been a terrible accident there as the line runs close to buildings. jenny x

It would be great to have all manned crossings again, but that would diminish the amount the fat-cats get at the end of the year.

Why don,t they return to the old system of all gates being "Manned" It would also help employ many more people.We all know there are Idiots about,this might help safety.and thats what counts isnt it?.Hal.

Glad to see the general tone of these replies. You can only go so far to protect people from their own madness, although it is extemely sad they took others with them. In Europe there is far less protection around railways. Drivers are expected to look after themselves. Anne

Well done Bob, you have put it in proportion. I have a mate who refuses to fly because "it's too dangerous". But he happily jumps in his car, which he has not had serviced for two years, and does 90mph down the motorway. Level crossings are safe, it's the prats that use them that are not.

Let’s get this in proportion: It goes without saying that any accidental death is unacceptable There will always be accidents – Try as we might to prevent them This is the first loss of life on one of these crossings since the Lockington disaster in Yorkshire in 1986 in which nine lives were lost. It seems that it may well have been caused by a suicidal car driver. It is dreadful for the relatives of those who died but that applies to the relatives of anyone who dies unexpectedly. Hundreds of people die each week on the roads. In 2002 more than 30,000 people were injured in road accidents and over 3,400 died as a result. A few statistics to put things in perspective: Cause of death Annual risk Cancer 1 in 387 Injury and poisoning 1 in 3,137 Road accidents 1 in 16,800 Gas incident (fire, explosion or carbon monoxide poisoning) 1 in 1,510,000 Lightning 1 in 18,700,000 Average annual risk of death as a consequence of an activity Activity associated with death Risk Annual Risk Maternal death in pregnancy 1 in 8,200 maternities Surgical anaesthesia 1 in 185,000 operations Scuba Diving 1 in 200,000 dives Fairground rides 1 in 834,000,000 rides Rock climbing 1 in 320,000 climbs Canoeing 1 in 750,000 outings Hang-gliding 1 in 116,000 flights Rail travel accidents 1 in 43,000,000 passenger journeys Aircraft accidents 1 in 125,000,000 passenger journeys Source:- http://www.hse.gov.uk/education/statistics.htm

What got me today was that on one of the news channels, the death of the car driver was announced before that of the train driver. That driver went to work yesterday, wishing his/her family farewell, not knowing it would be just that. I can't emagine what went through that driver's mind. That vehicle must have been in sight as reports state that the train began to break. At 80mph it would take possibly a mile plus to bring that train to a complete stand still. To see that vehicle and realise that you arn't going to stop. What a dreadful way to die. The same goes for those poor passengers. We can't condemn the railways all the time. We don't have barriers to prevent cars jumping red lights at road junctions. We must remember that more people are killed on British roads in one week than in a year on the railways. However one fatality on either is to many.

Don't have a problem with unmanned level crossings myself, the light flashes and I stop. I KNOW a train is coming. But on many occasions I've stopped when the lights started to flash and an idiot behind has overtaken me and weaved round the barriers. I can't explain their mentality, can you? When a road traffic light changes to red there MAY be a car coming the other way. When a rail traffic light flashes there IS a train coming, weighing hundreds of tons and probably doing over 80 MPH. I shed no tears when these idiots themselves get killed, but they take innocents with them.

According to the paper today these types of crossing are apparently being phased out. There's a number of theories being banded about as to why the car was there:- maliciously reversed onto track and also that it was actually being driven along the track towards the train (suicide) which has happened a number of times before - unfortunately it would be difficult to stop someone in that frame of mind if they are determined to kill themselves that way - also unfortunately if they are in that frame of mind they do not consider the death and carnage their actions result in. At the very least there should be barriers all the way across the road, not just half barriers, to stop those chancers trying to beat the lights/train. Kxx

exactly jim ,too many people pass their driving tests and then forget all about awareness

Sean, Exactly, people don't realise. That is why they put Traffic Lights at unmanned or ungated crossings. I wonder how much money is wasted trying to protect people from their own idiocy? perhaps we should just let them get on with it. According to Darwin we should eventually breed a generation which has more sense if we let the senseless destroy themselves before breeding.

the problem is that around an unmanned crossing it appears quiet and people dont take into consideration that a train will usually pass at 90 mph plus ! jim a train can and will derail at 5mph , all it needs to do is split the points or clip something that has been left on the track .at slow speeds that is not too much of a problem but the faster you get ...... sean

Ungated Crossings are not the problem. The problem lies with the idiots who think they are above the Law. The same people who jump red lights, speed in restricted areas, park where they like and have no respect for anyone. I for one don't need a gate to stop me being hit by a train, I am quite happy to acknowledge a red light and wait for it to change. Mind you, were I in charge there would be an end to this endless search for speed on the rails. A countrywide speed limit of 80mph should be enough for anyone. Then we may get less trains jumping the track etc. Only my opinion, agree or disagree as you see fit. Jim

hi gwyneth it might be so that unmanned crossings do work but they are accidents waiting to happen they should be all manned or automatic and not left to peoples judgement if that crossing where that trian driver had been manned or automatic that train driver would be driving trains now

Similarly it is a shame that some people don't heed the warnings that are clearly given and think they can drive across before a train approaches. We have many unmanned crossings not far from here and they work well. Sadly a train driver was killed though when a car driver thought she would ignore the warnings and drove across.

I agree. It has to take an accident , for changes to be considered/made. Elaine x

its a shame that so many people should lose their lives because someone is trying to save money by not having manned crossings