Safe Speed Forums

Never mind the driver of the "1 ton car always being to blame", presumably the driver of a 100 ton train is guilty before he even gets out of bed in the morning?!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/cyclist-level- ... =1#MJGJvKT

Only "speak " to her ?

But then the train inbuilt crystal ball had failed ,as it's supposed to forsee things like this

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

She probably thought it was just a normal red light like a traffic light.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Oooops, did this cyclist actually realise that they aren't all Gods then?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

No doubt if she had been in a motorised vehicle the police and Brake would be leading a county wide search to hang the bas@@@@.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

There's a very very real possibility that a car on the tracks can derail a train if it's hit, in fact we know, it's happened, killing 10.

Chance of a cyclist derailing a train if hit? 0.00001%? Less? Possible at all?

It ain't just cyclists that jump red lights...






http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... iam-survey

Trains run on tracks, these tracks are closed to the public.

Cars run on the public highway, the clue is in the name, it's a public space.

Two entirely different situations.

So she's not doing anything seriously wrong then, like cycling dangerously?

The fact that she caused the driver to suffer anxiety and stress (not to mention onlookers) for however short a time, is immaterial, I suppose.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

indeed -clue ,AS YOU SAY IS IN NAME - it was on a LEVEL CROSSING ,not land closed to the public, which special training is needed to access . A train is a great big thing with a Yellow front ( so as to be highly visible from a long way off). Most level crossings are placed so that any person with acceptable eyesight ignoring the warning signals SHOULD be able to see that a train is close by . Perhaps the BTP should speak to her and bill her for the sick pay to one very disturbed driver ,whilst he /she undergoes counselling .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Absolutely she should be traced and spoken to and made an example of (I believe transport police have found out who she is), and yes, all sympathies to the driver of the train who was put in a terrible situation by this stupid person, I hope they get a long rest and the offer of counselling.

I do have to say that in today's age I find it strange that trains are allowed to run at such speed through a crossing that's separated from the public by little more than two aluminium poles.

Rather it should be the other way round, such crossing should be phased out to be replaced with something far more impassable.

PERHAPS such crossings might be policed / taken as something by our cycling fraternity as a place to show respect to drivers.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

It really is a sad sign of the times when the proposed solution to a problem that has existed for 150 years (a train crossing a road) involves re-engineering to reduce the consequences of idiocy, rather than trying to address the idiocy in the first place!

There seems to be a curious discrepancy here though... When the idiocy occurs on the part of a cyclist, the preferred solution is re-engineering all level crossings to make it harder for the idiot to do the idiotic. When the idiocy is on the part of a motorist, however...

...well, hanging's too good for them, isn't it?!

Still, I suppose that with all that "general taxation" the government gets from the motorist that's left over after they've done all their spending on the roads, they might be able to do something?

botach, your biggest problem for train drivers is not cyclists, it's motor vehicle drivers.

This is the first video of a cyclist being an idiot on a level crossing I've seen, we've seen hundreds of people driving cars swerving round the gates, stopping on the crossing etc...

If people can do THE most idiotic things (i.e. take silly risks) when they are in a hurry and they think they can steal a march by shooting a gap. I see it every day, otherwise normal reasonable people flinging themselves at closing train doors, accelerating hard at lights that are about to go red, running out into the road without looking to catch a bus overtaking in stupid places etc...

Remember the old slam door trains? Practically every door was swung open whilst the train was coming into the station, and there were a LOT of injuries (and deaths). They've gone now. About time these silly crossings were re-engineered too.




A motorist treating a level crossing like this should (and would) receive a harsher penalty then a cyclist or pedestrian. It's what happens in the real world, get over it!

Is it possible that there are more motorists than cyclists?

So, another huge drain on the public purse is the answer? (Maybe from some of that "motoring taxation" that doesn't get spent on the roads, perhaps)? People, as you have so rightly observed, will always take risks and do stupid things - they'll just move on to finding the next new way of killing themselves.

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EITHER (motorist or cyclist) treating a level crossing like this stands a reasonably good chance of suffering the "ultimate" penalty, frankly. If either has the potential for causing loss of life or damage then either should be fined. The motorist, I agree, has the greater potential for doing so, and I therefore have no problem with the motorist bearing the GREATER fine. The problem is that because cyclists are harder to identify, they more often than not, don't get any fine at all. That ain't right.

But she's been found.

If you're thinking cycles are ever going to have to wear registration plates you're out of luck I'm afraid, it just ain't gonna happen.

There is a maximum speed AFAIK through a level crossing . A lot of crossings on the WCML were removed and modified to prevent the Darwinite minority who might think that if they crossed first, then they had right of way . First thing folks are taught on a PTS ( pERSONAL TRACK SAFETY ) course if that the train ALWAYS has right of way . And why there are set levels of safe systems ,with rigorous checks and double checks before TRAINED blokes set foot out on track . But on a lot of level crossings I've seen , there are safety indicators ( red/green lights) at each side with instructions .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on