Won’t Do That Again

My sympathy is with the driver of the train.

Two people have died after a car was struck by a train on a level crossing in West Sussex.

Automatic half barriers. These are operated by treadles on the track. Each crossing has its own parliamentary order that dictates the layout, the road markings and the time from when the yellow lights start flashing to when the barriers are fully down, which then means that a train is on the approach. This time is usually around thirty seconds. Time enough to see the warning lights and stop.

A witness at the scene he believed the car had gone round the safety barriers as there appeared to be no damage to the gates.

Clearly Granddad thought he was invincible and found out that he wasn’t and in the process, took out his grandson. Fucking moron. If he wasn’t dead, I’d take his driving licence away. There is no excuse whatsoever for this kind of reckless driving. The only way a collision could have occurred is if the driver jumped the crossing or was stupid enough to leave it on the bomac prior to the closing sequence (yep, I had that happen once).

I note in the comments people are saying AHBs should be banned because the barriers only go halfway across the road. Ahem, we drive on the left, so why would you be on the right unless you are attempting to beat the train? Clearly expecting people to be all grown up hasn’t worked, so maybe they are right…

All that said, having dealt with them, I don’t much like AHBs. That’s because I realise that there are an awful lot of morons with driving licences roaming our roads. At one time, I was one of those charged with dealing with the mess they left behind. I was lucky – no fatalities.

7 Comments

  1. My sympathy is with the driver of the train.
    As is mine. Similarly my sympathies go to those bus driver colleagues of my youngest whose trauma after a smash nearly always results in them quitting. Most recently a motor bike went straight into the front of bus (God only knows how). Rider dead on impact of course and the driver was not at all at fault but that doesn’t lessen the trauma. There aren’t many who come back from those sorts of things.

    At one time, I was one of those charged with dealing with the mess they left behind. I was lucky – no fatalities. I think every peeler i have ever known in any country has had *their* RTA. The one they can’t forget, the one that keeps them up at night. Usually they involve the death of children. I expect Paramedics feel the same way, and fire crews.

  2. I was in The Job for 28 years. Seen lots of gruesome stuff. Worst was after a fire in a flat. Two kids, maybe 1 to 3 y/o (later found to be brother and sister) bodies fused. Medics wouldn’t touch. I carried the babes down 3 floors to the ambulance.
    The eeebie-jeeebies climb up and bite when you least expect them, even after 30 years.
    The train driver is the victim in the case given.

  3. As a retired railway employee, I have seen at first hand the devastating effect on station staff and on-train staff even though they’re blameless in such situations. I have personally witnessed the scene of a suicide-by-train a few minutes after it happened.

    I feel the utmost sympathy for the train driver.

  4. “If he wasn’t dead, I’d take his driving licence away.”

    Maybe we should remove it from the surviving progeny, just to make sure?

  5. The tragedy of this incident is not that the fucking idiot who caused it was killed, but that he took his Grandson’s life too with his ignorance and impatience. Poor kid.

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