Level crossing stupidity...

[duncan]

No mention of a fine or having to pay for the damage & I would have thought even a rag top would have mentioned this - that is what I would have expected

Edited January 1, 2016 by duncan

[big jim]

ok, no train involved but sheesh!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-35324918

[Gary H]

The latest horrific collision with a laden artic  on a level crossing in the Czech Republic has claimed 3 lives.

Full barriers on what would appear to be a train operated crossing is clearly a bad idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hJRvqVKXU4

Pictures of the aftermath-

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Fotogalerie:+Sr%C3%A1%C5%BEka+pendolina+s+kamionem&biw=1309&bih=732&tbm=isch&imgil=CYIlL3ZaOxNg5M%253A%253BwUxln944TBY3_M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.lidovky.cz%25252Fve-studence-se-srazilo-pendolino-s-kamionem-provoz-byl-prerusen-pxe-%25252Fzpravy-domov.aspx%25253Fc%2525253DA150722_082121_ln_domov_mct&source=iu&pf=m&fir=CYIlL3ZaOxNg5M%253A%252CwUxln944TBY3_M%252C_&usg=__bL9bpLQP9YV-uR5ocBvmTgZ4sUo%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjX5N_9-tPKAhVI1xQKHYIIAOwQyjcIKA&ei=2_GtVpeLMMiuU4KRgOAO#imgrc=WfQfpML_1TlQlM%3A&usg=__bL9bpLQP9YV-uR5ocBvmTgZ4sUo%3D

Truly horrific for all involved and it could so easily have been avoided.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Andy Y

[ejstubbs]

I hope they throw every book they can find at that homicidally dangerous lorry driver.

 

(Seeing as how he doesn't seem to have cared much about anyone but himself, once he'd broken the law by passing the flashing lights why didn't he just drive through the barrier to get off the crossing?  Or is he one of those clueless idiots who thinks that "the train will stop"?)

[PhilJ W]

The latest horrific collision with a laden artic  on a level crossing in the Czech Republic has claimed 3 lives.

Full barriers on what would appear to be a train operated crossing is clearly a bad idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hJRvqVKXU4

Pictures of the aftermath-

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Fotogalerie:+Sr%C3%A1%C5%BEka+pendolina+s+kamionem&biw=1309&bih=732&tbm=isch&imgil=CYIlL3ZaOxNg5M%253A%253BwUxln944TBY3_M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.lidovky.cz%25252Fve-studence-se-srazilo-pendolino-s-kamionem-provoz-byl-prerusen-pxe-%25252Fzpravy-domov.aspx%25253Fc%2525253DA150722_082121_ln_domov_mct&source=iu&pf=m&fir=CYIlL3ZaOxNg5M%253A%252CwUxln944TBY3_M%252C_&usg=__bL9bpLQP9YV-uR5ocBvmTgZ4sUo%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjX5N_9-tPKAhVI1xQKHYIIAOwQyjcIKA&ei=2_GtVpeLMMiuU4KRgOAO#imgrc=WfQfpML_1TlQlM%3A&usg=__bL9bpLQP9YV-uR5ocBvmTgZ4sUo%3D

Truly horrific for all involved and it could so easily have been avoided.

 

 

I hope they throw every book they can find at that homicidally dangerous lorry driver.

 

(Seeing as how he doesn't seem to have cared much about anyone but himself, once he'd broken the law by passing the flashing lights why didn't he just drive through the barrier to get off the crossing?  Or is he one of those clueless idiots who thinks that "the train will stop"?)

In the part of the film clip of the rear of the truck the warning lights don't appear to be working.

[Mark Saunders]

In the part of the film clip of the rear of the truck the warning lights don't appear to be working.

 

Did the lights stop flashing after the barriers were fully lowered?

 

Mark Saunders

[PhilJ W]

Did the lights stop flashing after the barriers were fully lowered?

 

Mark Saunders

The ones on the other side were flashing so I presume they would have done the same. The truck driver seemed confused when the far barrier came down in front of his cab and appears to hesitate. I might add that there seems little if any time for anything to clear the crossing between the barriers coming down and the train arriving so half barriers would make little difference.

Edited January 31, 2016 by PhilJ W

[Gary H]

In the part of the film clip of the rear of the truck the warning lights don't appear to be working.

To be honest, i think the low res quality of the film is so poor, coupled with the fact that the rear view is not straight-on toward the lights, its not possible to see them properly from that piece of film to be able to tell.

I dare say though, they will find out one way or the other.

What I find hard to fathom is the drivers actions.

He obviously realizes his mistake but makes no effort to move clear.

Did he think that by his presence that the train would simply stop before hitting him?

Some people amaze me by their apparent stupidity and naivety.

[Grovenor]

The ones on the other side were flashing so I presume they would have done the same. The truck driver seemed confused when the far barrier came down in front of his cab and appears to hesitate. I might add that there seems little if any time for anything to clear the crossing between the barriers coming down and the train arriving so half barriers would make little difference.

Its about 10 seconds between booms down and train arrival, which is about normal for a half barrier crossing. He had time to stop, pull forward and stop again, if he had kept going he would have been well clear.

Regards

[meil]

The full barrier is a factor, not providing an escape route. Also did you notice the far gate (for the truck) closes before the entrance gate has started to decend.

[Shadow]

If you look at the time on display it appears that the first part of the video has been speeder up. Time from barriers down to impact is 20s.

[Colin_McLeod]

It may be that the truck driver did not even think about the train. He sees barriers across the road in front of him and stops to wait for the barriers to go up. He may not have realised he was already on the crossing. Matters for the investigation to consider.

[Titan]

I hope they throw every book they can find at that homicidally dangerous lorry driver.

 

(Seeing as how he doesn't seem to have cared much about anyone but himself, once he'd broken the law by passing the flashing lights why didn't he just drive through the barrier to get off the crossing?  Or is he one of those clueless idiots who thinks that "the train will stop"?)

 

Talk about jumping to conclusions! In fact you seem to be jumping so high you must be in a low Earth orbit by now!

 

1, There is no evidence the lights facing the driver were flashing, yet you assume they were just so you can blame the driver.

2, The truck cab was past the first set of barriers even before they started to lower - indeed the whole truck had passed through before they lowered completely without them even touching it, so the driver would never have seen the first set of barriers come down at all.

3. The truck was approaching the crossing slowly, this is not commensurate with someone trying to beat the lights, who would normally put their foot down. Indeed it is a characteristic more associated with a cautious driver rather than a 'homicidally dangerous lorry driver'

4.  When he was confronted with a lowered barrier he clearly cared not to smash through them but stopped, since drivers are not trained to ram through them.

5, He was now in an unfamiliar situation - I would be surprised if this had happened to him before - the MAIB has a good way of putting it - 'loss of situational awareness' i.e. did not realise WTF was happening, or about to happen.

6. He then had a very short time to figure it out - it is easy for us with our railway knowledge.

 

It is also very poor Level Crossing design where all four barriers lower simultaneously - increases the risk of trapping vehicles as happened here. If the exit barriers had lowered just a few seconds after the the entry barriers the accident would very likely not have happened.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Titan

[Grovenor]

 

It is also very poor Level Crossing design where all four barriers lower simultaneously - increases the risk of trapping vehicles as happened here. If the exit barriers had lowered just a few seconds after the the entry barriers the accident would very likely not have happened.

One thing at least we can agree on.

Regards

[russ p]

I can't believe that film got released! I watched it then was appalled when I found out three people had died in it.
 

Edited February 2, 2016 by Andy Y

[YesTor]

I can't believe that film got released! I watched it then was appalled when I found out three people had died in it.

 

 

It's hardly the first video of its kind on YouTube.  There are hundreds, if not thousands like it.

[Ohmisterporter]

I wonder if this video is available for viewing in the Czech Republic? If so it would hardly be conducive to a fair trial if potential jurors had seen it and leapt to similar assumptions, theorising, and blame gaming that we have on here. What we are short of is the full facts. We ought to know better. 

[russ p]

It certainly appears that the crew perish in this together with some passengers. As a 30 year + driver I would hate do have an incident such as this and the thought that some W***ER has posted it for amusement turns me cold. Just think how the family of the crew must feel WITHOUT seeing this ? Then supposing they accidentally stumble across it doesn't warrant thought.

CAN THIS CLIP BE REMOVED PLEASE

[The Stationmaster]

The thing about this incident - however it happened (see Titan's post for an analysis) is that, like many others on this thread, it shows a level crossing collision.  Some of these collisions involve 'lucky escapes' some include moderate damage, some include fatal damage but beyond that they fall into two or three basic categories of cause -

 

1. Crossing equipment design shortcoming or failure - unusual in Britain; but perhaps a factor in this incident?

2. Failure to correctly carry out their job on the part of a member of railway staff - again unusual in Britain but it has happened.

3. Error or stupidity on the part of road users (including, fortunately very occasionally deliberate malicious action on their part).

 

Those, in summary, are the causes and they need to be considered and looked at very separately from the consequences in order to give them an objective and hopefully fair hearing.  And sensibly that 'fair hearing' has to be looked at in a detached manner from the consequences - that is extremely difficult to do but it is the only way causes can be rationally assessed and dealt with.  Alas modern society - probably more 'noisily' than in the past but maybe otherwise not much differently - tends to shout louder and louder in proportion not to the seriousness of the cause but in relation to the enormity of the consequences.  

 

The basic situation is that whatever the cause the consequences can be horrendous - at Quintinshill a Signalman did what many others have done and accepted a train, and he or his colleague pulled off for it, while another was standing in the Clearing Point; all that can prevent that sort of error is changes to equipment.  At Ladbroke Grove (actually Portobelloe Jcn) a Driver - seemingly with poor road knowledge (in my view) passed a signal at danger notwithstanding caution aspects at the signals in rear resulting in a collision between his train and another at Ladbroke Grove - again the answer lies in equipment because that is the only answer to frailty of human knowledge.  At Ufton Crossing a suicidal man parked his car on a level crossing - again the only answer is equipment or shut the crossing.

 

In all of these cases the consequences were devastating but behind that the real story was not the devastation but the conditions, equipment, and circumstances which were the cause.  Lose the message of the cause behind the horror of the consequences and we might as well give up and go home.  Mete out a disciplinary/legal punishment for the cause (where one is merited) - not for the consequences.

 

An interesting - maybe - example - many years ago I was on a traincrew management course where we had a session on disciplinary procedure and two cases were instanced of Drivers passing signals at danger; both overran the signal by similar distances, both SPADs had basically similar causes (inattention), both men had clean records - but in one the train simply stopped while in the other it rear-ended a passenger train and killed someone.  Should both Drivers receive the same disciplinary punishment, should one of them face legal charges, and so on?  Now apply a similar question to a level crossing collision where the road vehicle Driver or, say, a railway Signalman IS proven to be at fault - interesting isn't it.

[Sidecar Racer]

 Where and when , from Youtube where there is a full description .

 

Studenka on July 22, 2015.

[Budgie]

There is a description on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Stud%C3%A9nka_train_crash

 

The Polish lorry driver was using local roads to avoid motorway tolls.

[Guest]

I can't believe that film got released! I watched it then was appalled when I found out three people had died in it.

 

Not the first, and certainly not the last channel of it's kind. Caring more for their audience number, than what they upload. To them, if the video can gain them even a couple of Subscriptions, it's worth overlooking the moral side of it.

 

It's enough to make you wonder if you're on the right planet.

 

Regards,

Matt

[Gary H]

It's hardly the first video of its kind on YouTube.  There are hundreds, if not thousands like it.

Indeed. There is also more fatal footage from YT posted earlier on in this thread!

The 2 students killed by that American freight train is one that springs to mind.

Also the car full of kids fatally injured in America that was struck by a high speed Amtrak train is also on page 41 of this very thread.

 

Better delete those few aswel so as not to upset the readers!

Edited February 2, 2016 by Gary H

[russ p]

Well I think the rules should be changed so it's not permitted to link video footage of fatalities. I mean if there were CCTv footage of a couple having sex on a train I wouldn't expect to see this on the grounds of ' there's loads of porn on YouTube!'

[uax6]

Some time ago (last year) we discussed a signalman who had been hit opening crossing gates. The outcome of that accident is that anyone working level crossing gates that involves going into a road, now has to wear full orange PPE. There is an exemption for the time it takes the PPE to be delivered...

 

Andy G