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Video: Cyclist 'stars' in more level crossing madness - as he, pedestrian & driver dice with death

CCTV footage shows motorist, cyclist and pedestrian putting themselves and others in danger

British Transport Police (BTP) have this week released more video clips of people failing to stop at level crossings across the country - including one in which a speeding cyclist is knocked from his bike by the closing barrier, and then goes in front of the now closed barrier to retrieve his bike as an (unseen) train approaches.

The video clips are part of the BTP's ongoing level crossing safety campaign in which they  are asking motorists, cyclists and pedestrians who use level crossings not to put themselves – or others – at risk by attempting to cross the tracks once barriers drop and signals warn of trains approaching.

This week, officers are mounting patrols at level crossings to highlight the issue alongside staff from Network Rail.

The campaign, Operation Look, which is supported by motoring organisations AA and RAC, is accompanied by the first in a series of videos giving examples of the risks taken by some crossing users.

In the clip, the first person shown is on foot, the second on a bike and the third in a car. The incidents were recorded respectively at crossings in Dundee, Spondon in Derbyshire and Narborough in Leicestershire.

Inspector Becky Warren of BTP said: “All too often people get into the habit of taking risks at crossings. Our message is simple – use crossings safely.

“It may be tempting to jump a light to shave a minute or two off your journey, but every time you do, you endanger your life and the lives of other road and rail users.

“Fail to obey the signals and you may also end up with a driving ban or a criminal record. Is it really worth the risk?”

Network Rail’s head of level crossings, Darren Furness, commented: "Level crossings create a risk for people that we want to remove. Where possible we close them, and we have already closed more than 900 in the past five years.

“Those we cannot close we aim to make safer and awareness events like these mean we can meet and talk to motorists, cyclists and pedestrians about the dangers and how to stay safe."

Collisions between trains and motor vehicles are the ones most likely to endanger rail users – six people, including the train driver, were killed at Ufton, Berkshire, in 2004 when a car was parked on a level crossing by a motorist who a coroner’s inquiry found had committed suicide. The crossing is still in operation.

Level crossings also pose a risk to unwary or inconsiderate cyclists. Last year, a coroner’s inquiry recorded a verdict of accidental death in the case of cyclist Adrian Smith at the Cattishall level crossing in Great Barton, Suffolk in March 2013.

The driver of the train involved told the inquest that the cyclist was wearing headphones and looking the wrong way.

Also in 2013, a Cambridge woman came within inches of death as she attempted to cross as a train approached, pulling back just in time to avoid being hit. She was later cautioned by police.

In 2012, Network Rail launched a national TV advertising campaign under the strapline ‘See Track: Think Train’ warning cyclists and pedestrians of the potential danger involved in using level crossings.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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26 comments

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Hamster | 9 years ago
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Half barrier crossings have a limit on train speed because of the danger to other users. They do not thunder through at full speed round here it's 110mph for full closure crossings and around half that for half barriers. Mind you being hit by 200tonnes or more of train at 55mph will make a bit of a mess.

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Okinawa | 9 years ago
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Come on Network Rail: I want better CCTV images. I hate squinting

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honesty | 9 years ago
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No sounds at work so cant listen to the video, but just watching it there seems to be a few issues with the examples used.
1. first clip looks sped up to me, only a little bit, but enough to make it seem far worse than it was. This obviously increases the perception of risk. As has been said the pedestrian checks the line both ways and crosses when it seems clear. If BR had provided a footbridge this would not have happened.
2. Cyclist looks to slam the brakes on and skids on the wet floor rather than speeding to beat the barrier to me...
3. Car driver was a tosser (Id never stop on a crossing whatever but there you go), then again they are just sheepling along behind the traffic ahead, so you have to ask what road design causes traffic to queue over a railway crossing and should the road design be changed to stop this happening.

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Grizzerly | 9 years ago
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In fairness to the pedestrian in the first clip, he was already on the crossing when the barriers came down, he kept checking the line and was well clear by the time the train passed.

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Sam Saunders | 9 years ago
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I feel a bit disappointed to read comments that echo the unreasonable mindset of people who blame cyclists and pedestrians for the dangers that confront them on roads.

Railways have actually done a lot over the years to reduce the numbers of fatalities and serious injuries that happen on the rail network. As the article here makes clear incidents are monitored and practical changes follow when flaws are identified. Maybe not as quickly as we might like but the intention is there.

Network Rail and others with responsibilities do not make comments about people with limited awareness or intelligence (victim blaming at heart) they redraw the designs and increase the warning levels.

So, it is salutary to note that there are people interested in cycling who are as mortal and fallible as everyone else and who, now and again, resort to blaming victims rather than encouraging danger reduction.

The question should always be "what can we do to make sure that can't happen or won't happen so often in future?" and the answer should rarely be "tell people not to be stupid".

It should go without saying that badly judged humour saying "let them (and their defective dna) die is neither original nor amusing.

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surreyxc | 9 years ago
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portsmouth waterloo line farncombe, people can be idiots but then I think some people can very genuinley get caught out. The barriers at Farncombe can be down, train passes, they go up, and in well under 60 seconds they are coming down again, at times under certain road conditions that barely allows 4 cars to get across, if someone in front, stops to make a left hand turn after crossing, then people are trapped on the crossing. Surely better to leave barriers down if for such a short gap between trains. The inverse of this is the barrier can be left down for ages (10min +) between trains. Seems little logic at times, there maybe good reasons or none at all, but if we are not told as to the reasons why then how do we know.

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OldRidgeback | 9 years ago
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I note that there was a crash involving a train and a car on a crossing in the US yesterday. The car exploded on impact and passengers in the front of the train have been seriously injured - there may have been some deaths too. Train crossings always make me nervous when I'm driving over them. There's one I pass by when heading for a local cycle track and I always take care. I've seen pedestrians squeeze under the barrier a couple of times.

A friend of mine used to work for British Rail (as it was then) and one of his unenviable tasks was having to get underneath locomotives after they had struck people to make sure there was no damage. The rules meant the locomotive had to be kept stationary for safety checks (by him or someone like him) before it could be moved. His graphic description of having to remove body parts from a locomotive's driveline stuck in my memory, though not perhaps to the same degree the actual experience was embedded in his.

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parksey | 9 years ago
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The Corsa one is just insane. Shame the video doesn't show the train actually passing, to see how much time he/she actually had...

Kind of agree with Tiffin15 here, sometimes it's best just to let natural selection run its course, even if it does bugger up everyone else's rail journeys for the rest of the day.

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guildwheeler replied to parksey | 9 years ago
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I agree - idiots the lot of 'em. But before you make judgments like that, think of all the others involved. They may be idiots, but their families don't necessarily deserve the pain of losing a loved one. The well-being/safety of rail passengers and the train crew is also compromised. I'm a train driver and once had a very close call with a car on a level crossing where the car driver plainly didn't look. Fortunately he cleared the crossing just in the nick of time, but there was no way I could stop a train travelling at 70mph on the proverbial sixpence. It was certainly heart-in-mouth stuff!

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Jamminatrix | 9 years ago
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I'm surprised how quick the gates come down in these videos, there's almost no reaction time.

In America the crossing lights and bells come on for a few seconds before the gates start coming down. This gives people (idiots) a chance to get the heck out of the way and not be trapped or hit by gates.

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nellybuck@msn.com replied to Jamminatrix | 9 years ago
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Although not visible in the videos, warning lights will have been showing for a period of time before the barriers come down (from memory it has to be between 7 and 11 seconds depending on visibility). Plenty of time for people to see and take notice of them if they want to.

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guildwheeler replied to Jamminatrix | 9 years ago
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If you check again, they don't get trapped by the barriers - they are half barriers i.e. the exit is clear. Well it would've been had the driver had the sense to make sure the other car was clear of the crossing before entering it themselves.

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jellysticks | 9 years ago
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What a bunch of bellends. Sadly not that surprising/rare. It really is mind-boggling!

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msfergus | 9 years ago
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I'd love them all to come forward and let them tell us just what they were thinking..... as for the Corsa driver, let's hope he/she was wearing his/her bike clips or at least had easy clean floor mats!

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PonteD replied to msfergus | 9 years ago
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I think typical blinkered motorist mentality means there are only ever 2 things that they seem to think:
1) Must get in front
2) Must stay in front

As for the cyclist:
Got to beat the [insert obstacle/barrier/slow moving object]

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Stumps | 9 years ago
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Complete and utter madness. Yet if an accident does happen the rail company get lambasted from all sides.

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PonteD | 9 years ago
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 13 The number of times I see people try to squeeze onto box junctions and the like I often think they are idiots, but to do it on a level crossing is just madness!

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Tiffin15 | 9 years ago
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Let it happen reduce the spread of the stupid gene

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guildwheeler replied to Tiffin15 | 9 years ago
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You say that so glibly, but what about the risk to others involved? Not least the train driver? (I speak from experience as a member of that profession)

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Cyclist | 9 years ago
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Two words: Fcuk Wits.

And how much of a anal twitch would the corsa drive have had!

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benb replied to Cyclist | 9 years ago
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Cyclist wrote:

Two words: Fcuk Wits.

And how much of a anal twitch would the corsa drive have had!

ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit

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cidermart | 9 years ago
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A truly frightening display of peoples thought, or lack thereof, process.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 9 years ago
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Was the first clip uneditted? I'm slightly surprised how short was the interval between the barriers closing, the train passing, and the barriers going up again. The only level crossings I encounter you get stuck there for up to 20 minutes waiting for trains to go through after the barriers close.`

(I still maintain there would have been a net economic gain in terms of saved time - and occasional saved lives - over the century or more they have been there if some more heavily used crossings had had footbridges put in in the first place!)

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Pub bike replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 9 years ago
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FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Was the first clip uneditted?

Something seems to happen with the flashing red light in the top RH corner which suggests editing. A dark splodge appears on the left edge of the lamp after the man has passed.

Presumably the flashing was out of sync after cutting the delay out before the train actually came so the original flashing light was superimposed but the position isn’t quite right. This bloke might make that trip frequently and knows how much time he has.

Either way it was stupid to cross the tracks after the barrier has gone down but editing is disingenuous if it is not declared.

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Pub bike replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 9 years ago
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FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Was the first clip uneditted?

Something seems to happen with the flashing red light in the top RH corner which suggests editing. A dark splodge appears on the left edge of the lamp after the man has passed.

Presumably the flashing was out of sync after cutting the delay out before the train actually came so the original flashing light was superimposed but the position isn’t quite right. This bloke might make that trip frequently and knows how much time he has.

Either way it was stupid to cross the tracks after the barrier has gone down but editing is disingenuous if it is not declared.

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Al__S replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 9 years ago
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FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Was the first clip uneditted? I'm slightly surprised how short was the interval between the barriers closing, the train passing, and the barriers going up again. The only level crossings I encounter you get stuck there for up to 20 minutes waiting for trains to go through after the barriers close.`

Automatic Half Barrier crossings (AHB) like that have as far as I've been told 27 seconds from the lights and siren starting to the train reaching the crossing (at full speed). They have a trigger up the track to start this, and another just after the crossing to raise the barriers. There's no signal protecting the crossing.

Full barrier crossings have a signal before the crossing. They're controlled either from a signal box right next to the crossing or via CCTV from a signalling centre. The signaller aims to get the barriers down, visually confirm the crossing is clear and set the signal to clear early enough that the preceding signals will show green, not yellow (or double yellow), allowing the trains to run at full speed. Much safer, but more man-power intensive and obviously a much longer cycle time.

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