Re: Safeworking Rules.

["nobody" <dweebken@NOSPAM.yahoo.com>]

Some staistics for safety of transport in 1997 (by no. of fatalities)
Australia

lowest fatalities: Air
2nd lowest: bus
3rd: rail
4th: car
5th: pedestrian
6th: taxi

Now how safe did you say rail was? The risk "very small" compared to other
modes? It is the second worst form of public transport (public in this
context meaning government or private transport companies). And the risk is
several fold more when a signalling system is faulty or ignored.

Rail accidents once in a blue moon? Look at the incidents page of the RD (if
it is still there). Each accident on that page could be life threatening.
What your not considering is that when a train does something wrong there
can be thousands of lives at risk. When a train does something wrong its
hard to fix.
THAT is what signals are for - to prevent that. With accidents at Waterfall,
Concord Westover the last couple of years,and 2 at hornsby, the olympic
line, possibly at waverton if this ng is correct, glenbrook and near misses
down south between two freights, up north with a 300 passenger XPT and a
freight etc all due to signal related problems over the last year or so, it
is more than obvious that when you pass a signal thats at stop or faulty,
there are consequences. Its amazing that only one of the above accidents had
fatalities.

Cars are also dangerous. A lot of accidents and fatalities are caused by
driver error. I'm not however calling to ban cars or trains. In the sake of
cars, better driver training, more strict rules and perhaps speed limiting
technology and proximity technology could be employed (all of which could
reduce the road toll). You will notice that most fatalities on the road are
caused by inexperience and drunkeness and fatigue, so we can help fix that.

And you can see how mucking around with signals also has it's problems.
Society can take risks but there are consequences of them. Some risks are
stupid risks.
When a 300+ ton train moving at 60kph passes a faulty signal with 2000
people on board, their lives depend upon there being no obstruction ahead.
Because if there is one it will be impossible to stop without injury or
death. I consider that a stupid risk.

When I go to work I minimise the risks in the car by being well rested,
sober, driving to conditions, ensuring my car is up to scratch and not
moving when I think there could be an accident waiting to happen ahead. I
trust a train driver to ensure that when he goes past a signal, he knows
there is nothing ahead. Therefore, a flashing signal, red signal, one that
has been reported faulty and other such situation I would treat with
caution. Not doing so would be the equivalent of getting into a car with a
flat tyre (with a lot of people in it).

I would love to lobby government but it is slow, and how much attention will
they pay to a 17 year old bloke? How about some rail employees lobby? what
about a few thousand commuters protesting? How about an awareness campaign
about signals?
Have you ever seen an effective protest against the government? They happen
as often as a qantas plane crash.

Brendan


"Rod" <comtrain@mpx.com.au> wrote in message
84n3tc$sgv$1@news1.mpx.com.au">news:84n3tc$sgv$1@news1.mpx.com.au...
>
>
> > >
> > True. But it is also inconvenient if that same announcement runs along
the
> > lines of: "All trains have been cancelled because of a derailment that
has
> > killed several people because a train ran through a faulty signal". I
know
> > which I prefer. Either way, a faulty signal can stop the world moving,
but
> > so can the rear end of another train.
> >
> Brendan,
>             Rail accidents happen once in a blue moon, or even much less!
> Signal failures happen every day, If you want to live in a society that
does
> not take any risks, a one way ticket to Easter Island should fit the bill.
>              Road Accidents fill our morgues each day, and cause our
> Hospitals to overflow, and lighten our wallets as much each week. But do I
> hear you asking that all cars be banned, because the risks are so high?
>              Injuries and death on the Rail System are very small compared
> to other forms of transport. You have to take risks to live in a modern
> Society! If you do not agree you know what you should do...  CAREFULL !!
> look behind you, don't you think that bloke in the car might lose control
> and run you over as you walk along...God that plane might fall out of the
> sky...
> Get my drift... We do a pretty good job getting you to and from work each
> day, and for those that use their cars, keeping hundreds of thousands of
> passenger journeys off those moving car parks you so hate.
> Rod  [who was nearly an ex Freight Victoria Driver ...got 5 numbers
> straight, Saturday night, and one off the 6th...damn it]
>
> ps best thing we can all do is lobby our local members to make our
Railways
> safer, by putting more money back into the infrastructure, so as to
improve
> the reliability.
>
>