7:00pm Wednesday 10th March 2010
By Jim Durkin
THE HEAD of Network Rail wants the driving test to carry compulsory questions on level crossings in a bid to reduce the UK’s shocking death and serious injury rate.
Iain Coucher called for the government to curb unsafe driving at crossings, following 3,242 recorded incidents of misuse in the UK last year.
He said: “Motorists are too often playing Russian roulette with a 200-tonne train.”
Residents close to Wool’s level crossing agree.
Motorist Richard Worksop said: “There are some drivers who think nothing of accelerating across the tracks when the gates have started to descend.
“It cannot be a bad thing to make level crossings part of the written test.”
Meanwhile, a nearby worker who didn’t want to be named recalled a driver turning on to the tracks and driving along the rails by mistake.
“It happened about five years ago,” he said. “The guy drove along for a while until his petrol tank caught fire.
“Cars do speed up to jump the crossing. You often get police waiting over the road to catch them, and we used to have CCTV cameras either side of it.
“The gates do stay down a long time though – they can be down for several minutes before any train goes past.”
In September 2008 a driver escaped uninjured after his car went through railings on the line near the level crossing. No-one was injured in the incident.
Nationally, there were 14 recorded collisions between vehicles and trains on level crossings last year, and 140 recorded near misses – nearly three a week.
Sadly, 13 people lost their lives on crossings during the same period.
Mr Coucher said: “Tragically some motorists lose their lives gambling at level crossings by running red lights or dodging around barriers.
“I’m confident that lives will be saved if motorists learn how to use level crossings safely from the day they pass their test.”
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