‘Russian roulette’ alert over railway crossings (From Craven Herald)

‘Russian roulette’ alert over railway crossings

3:50pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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Motorists and pedestrians in the district are risking their lives by playing “Russian roulette” with 200-tonne trains at railway level crossings, it has emerged.

New figures show four incidents of level crossing misuse were reported on the Airedale line during 2009, although Network Rail fears the real figure could be much higher as many go unreported.

In June, a pedestrian had a lucky escape after what rail chiefs described as a “near miss” at Kildwick level crossing. Less than two miles away, at Cononley, there were three instances of level crossing misuse during the year – one involving a vehicle and two involving pedestrians.

And this year has already seen one high-profile incident which led to police giving strong words of advice to a 13-year-old boy who was egged on by friends to play “chicken” with an oncoming train at Cononley crossing.

Now Network Rail, which operates Britain’s rail infrastructure, has released a series of alarming images showing the unnecessary risks people take at level crossings.

And Iain Coucher, chief executive of Network Rail, has called on the Government to do more to curb unsafe driving at level crossings.

He said the driving theory test should include questions on level crossings to enhance learner drivers’ understanding of the Highway Code and stamp out behaviour such as dodging barriers and running red lights.

Mr Coucher said: “Motorists are too often playing Russian roulette with a 200-tonne train – and tragically some lose their lives gambling at level crossings by running red lights or dodging around barriers.”