New TollNZ Campaign - Level Crossing Safety

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

all level crossings should have barriers...

[Dave Lobster]

It'd be cheaper to give all drivers eyes.

[rideNroot]

How many people in NZ die each year on level crossings? I'd say sweet fuck all.

[Indiana_Jones]

I like the one where they have mummy and little car stuck inbetween a car and a truck on the crossing.

They got pwned like total n00bs.

.......I think they could of got out of it though, but the dumb bitch was just beeping her horn lol

-Indy

[What?]

all level crossings should have barriers...

Why?

Not too long ago, after hearing the stories from train drivers, the cops sent some men with cameras for train rides. What they witnessed was clowns not only ignoring lights & bells, but even driving around barrier arms to beat the train, and not uncommonly, either. This included cars, trucks and motorcycles.

Every level crossing in NZ is signposted.
Every driver in NZ is responsible for taking notice of those signs, and acting accordingly.
The road does not cross the railway. It stops at the edge of the railway, and recommences on the other side. On a level crossing, you are in the train's territory, not vice-versa.
No-one should ever trust lights, bells and barriers to protect them - being electrical devices, they can fail to operate (very rare that this happens, but it can). Eyes and Brain should be connected.

There is NO excuse for colliding with a train. The guy at Ohingaiti the other day may have had suffered sunstrike, but that is no excuse - he should have stopped and made sure it was safe to go. He didn't, and has paid the price. Unfotunately, his wife, child and family all have to pay as well.

[Albino]

Drivers (and bikers) should look at every rail crossing. Sometimes lights and barriers are faulty, sometimes there are no barriers or lights. And my guess is that the more barriers we put in, the less chance that people will THINK when they come to a crossing without a barrier, or one that isn't working.

Roads are dangerous. But the more we remove the [perception of] risk then the less attention drivers will pay to driving safely.



[Edit] PS - McJim, bridges aren't practical. One bridge takes at least three years to build in this country. We don't know why, maybe it's something to do with the Taniwhas.

[MSTRS:Me]

Roads are dangerous. But the more we remove the [perception of] risk then the less attention drivers will pay to driving safely.

This is one of my pet gripes. The more 'laws' we have to make 'things safer', the less attention is paid to thinking about what might happen if.....
Specifically re the Ohingaiti crossing, the road runs parallel to the tracks on both approaches. If going in the same direction as the train, drivers could hardly fail to see/hear it right beside them. And if opposing directions, then can the driver not see that dirty big headlight on the train, along with flashing red warning lights at the crossing, if not bells as well?
Sounds callous, but stupidity can only be removed by itself

[imdying]

Look at it this way, if they didn't see the train, they DEFINITELY wouldn't have seen you on your motorbike. Therefore they deserve to die.

I don't know about deserve to die, but some people do need to learn the hard way.

So how hard IS it to spot one near enough to hit you when you're on a crossing??

Not that difficult, they generally have a pretty big light on them. If you're patient, and actually take the time out to check, then there's a good chance you'll spot the train.

To answer this question, Sod all. They cost an arm an a leg to build, and take ages at that. Any tunnel under a railway is built to many times the spec's of a road traffic underpass.

Yep, big dollars to build something like that to prevent impatient people from getting whacked.

The fatality a few months ago involved speed and recklessness, I was aquainted with Ryan Jamieson, and he was a young and impetuous, and messed up royally.

And fortunately can no longer breed that into others.

Now we know there are a lot of stupid car drivers out there, and the article on Ryans death had the local train specialist guy saying that motorists would often drive around the arm barriers, or race trians, or play chicken with them......... this is raw stupidity, and if we start spending tax payer money on fixing it, then we too are idiots sorry.

Hard to have much sympathy there.

This is one of my pet gripes. The more 'laws' we have to make 'things safer', the less attention is paid to thinking about what might happen if.....
Specifically re the Ohingaiti crossing, the road runs parallel to the tracks on both approaches. If going in the same direction as the train, drivers could hardly fail to see/hear it right beside them. And if opposing directions, then can the driver not see that dirty big headlight on the train, along with flashing red warning lights at the crossing, if not bells as well?
Sounds callous, but stupidity can only be removed by itself

In the end, there's nothing the train driver can do, the onus is entirely on the car drivers to be looking out for the trains. The only place we should be building alternative routes (either over or under), is where people stopping to check that the way is clear would cause traffic flow problems.

[imdying]

all level crossings should have barriers...

This wouldn't help, people drive around them. They should all have lights, but relying on them to be always functional isn't a smart move. There's not much respect in society any more, trains however don't give a fig about that... those that disrespect them get squashed.

[Edbear]

Why?

Not too long ago, after hearing the stories from train drivers, the cops sent some men with cameras for train rides. What they witnessed was clowns not only ignoring lights & bells, but even driving around barrier arms to beat the train, and not uncommonly, either. This included cars, trucks and motorcycles.

Every level crossing in NZ is signposted.
Every driver in NZ is responsible for taking notice of those signs, and acting accordingly.
The road does not cross the railway. It stops at the edge of the railway, and recommences on the other side. On a level crossing, you are in the train's territory, not vice-versa.
No-one should ever trust lights, bells and barriers to protect them - being electrical devices, they can fail to operate (very rare that this happens, but it can). Eyes and Brain should be connected.

There is NO excuse for colliding with a train. The guy at Ohingaiti the other day may have had suffered sunstrike, but that is no excuse - he should have stopped and made sure it was safe to go. He didn't, and has paid the price. Unfotunately, his wife, child and family all have to pay as well.

Also Kro and Scummy,

It's sad that these days too many people want someone else to take responsibility for their actions. Yes, maybe sunstrike was a factor, but what does one do if one cannot see where one is going? More likely is a lapse in concentration, or a distraction. I'd hate to be a train driver these days considering what they have to witness each time they venture out!

I've been driving and riding since I was 12, (Sorry SD!), took a Defensive Driving Course at 16, (one of the first in NZ, and it was in American complete with left hand drive movies!), and it's stood me in good stead ever since.

Accidents, true accidents, do happen, but most "accidents" are caused by incompetence or carelessness and it seems it's usually someone else's fault. I feel for the family, but the accident needn't have happened. It was neither the train driver's fault nor the fault of the level crossing. It's like the description "killer roads", it's not the road that kills, it's the drivers who don't drive according to the conditions.

Ogden Nash said once, "Here lies the body of William Grey, who died maintaining his right of way. He was right, dead right, as he sped along, but now he's just as dead, as if he'd been dead wrong!"

One must balance expediency and right and law, against the consequences of failure. I don't like pain, and do like living, so those two factors tend to influence how I drive/ride. Sound like a boring old fart, don't I?

[MSTRS:Me]

Sound like a boring old fart, don't I?

Only bored people are boring....are you?

[janno]

Ogden Nash said once, "Here lies the body of William Grey, who died maintaining his right of way. He was right, dead right, as he sped along, but now he's just as dead, as if he'd been dead wrong!"

That's great! Hadn't come across that one.

I have to agree that sunstrike is a strange explanation. If you can't see where you are going, wouldn't instinct tell you to slow down or stop to check? I don't know what it is about human nature that as soon as we get some wheels underneath us we feel invincible.

[Edbear]

Only bored people are boring....are you?

Heck no!!!! I just need a few more hours in the day and a more active adrenal gland to keep up with what I want to do!!! The spirit, as they say, is willing but the aging bod needs a bit of encouragement these days! I sometimes wonder where my "get up and go", got up and went...

Of course I do tend to spend just a wee bit much time on KB...

[scumdog]

Also Kro and Scummy,

It's sad that these days too many people want someone else to take responsibility for their actions.

Accidents, true accidents, do happen, but most "accidents" are caused by incompetence or carelessness and it seems it's usually someone else's fault.

One must balance expediency and right and law, against the consequences of failure. I don't like pain, and do like living, so those two factors tend to influence how I drive/ride. Sound like a boring old fart, don't I?

Dead right about being responsible..lots of people never advance above 7 years old when it comes to this."It was his fault, he made me" "It's their fault, the should have..."

Accident-schmaccidents, the majority are preventable fuck-ups by incompetents who were too thick/inexperienced to realise the impending results of the actions/innaction.

One of yesterdays head-ons on an icy road had a Learner licence for the offending driver with two passenger (one had a Restricted licence).
It was the drivers first winter - had she been with an experienced driver (as she should have been) there's a good chance she would not have been driving at that speed on an icy road.
Four injured, two cars written-off

But gaaaarh, "The crash was caused by icy roads"

Wrong.

[terbang]

The plane is gonna fly, asuming the engines work.
-Indy

Gee last time I flew a glider it didn't have an engine...

I also tend to think of the Darwin theory here as well and the ones that the campaign is aimed at are just too stupid to take heed. Though I had an aunt who stalled and flooded her Humber Super Snipe on a level crossing back in the late 60's. She got pushed 1/4 of a mile down the track when a train came along! They repaired the car.