UK: Driver fined over bus on railway

[John Ashworth]

Driver fined over bus on Essex railway

A bus driver who became trapped on an Essex railway line as he drove through closing barriers has admitted driving without due care and attention...

[Steve Appleton]

Level crossings have been receiving a lot of attention locally by the Railway Safety Regulator. One change that has already been published in the new SANS 3000 crossing standards is the use of conventional traffic signals (green, yellow and red) in place of the flashing red lights.

This is for at least two reasons:
1. Under road traffic legislation, passing a steady red traffic signal is a serious offence which can be prosecuted whereas flashing red lights can be construed as a warning signal or, in the case of flashing traffic signals (robots), stop and proceed if clear - leading to misjudgements and an assumption that approaching traffic (even if it is a train) will similarly stop.
2. Traffic lights and their aspects are engrained in the psyche all (most) drivers and are better understood and automatically actioned by drivers unlike the rarely seen flashing lights which require some time to assimilate and correctly interpret.

Also favoured are "half barriers" which allow motorists who pass under the approach barrier before it is lowered to drive through and exit the crossing without hindrence, unlike the full-width barriers seen at the crossing in the UK news clip.

[John Ashworth]

I agree about green/yellow/red lights. The problem with half-barriers is that in many places they seem to encourage drivers to take a chance and zig-zag through the crossing even when the barriers are closed. What I've seen in many places is two half-barriers on each side, where the one on the car's approach side of the crossing closes first and the one on the exit side closes a few seconds later, so that if a car does get onto the crossing while the first barrier is closing it still has time to escape before the exit barrier closes. But ultimately, driver stupidity is the cause of most crossing accidents!