The Anonymous Widower

Another Level Crossing Crash In East Anglia

This afternoon, I was in Cambridge trying to get to Ely.

I didn’t!

This report in the East Anglian Daily Times, which is entitled Investigation underway after car driver seriously hurt during train strike at level crossing near Ely – rail services severely disrupted, explains what happened and why I didn’t get to Ely!.

This is said.

Network Rail is investigating whether it had been asked for permission to open a gate at a level crossing before a vehicle was hit by a train.

I won’t prejudge their enquiry, but it strikes me there are these ways that the Land-Rover could have been on the crossing and hit by the train.

• The signalman erroneously gave the driver permission to cross.
• The phone system was broken.
• The driver crossed without permission.
• The vehicle broke down, whilst crossing.

My father always taught me to drive defensively and assume that everybody else is an idiot. Similar things were also said to me, when I was learning to fly.

In one case, not too far away from the level crossing, where the accident happened, I was driving home and at another crossing, the half-barriers were down and on enquiry they had been that way for half-an-hour with the lights flashing. I phoned the signaller and he told me all trains had been stopped for safety reasons and that we could all cross, by weaving through the barriers.

Eventually, I did this with extreme care, but others reversed and went the long way round.

Today, once clear of Cambridge and its troubles, I came across a very irate Abellio employee. Not with me, or the company, but with the accident, as she had had a big afternoon of complaints.

In my view, the driver was at fault, as he did not appear to assume that the signaller was an idiot.

Incidentally, the Abellio employee was of the opinion, that all crossings should be replaced with ones with full barriers.

Certainly, in this day and age, user-worked level crossings are not safe enough for many of the idiots on our roads.

August 12, 2016 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Health and Safety, Level Crossing, Trains