Re: Rail tragedy triggers review of crossings

["Al" <alpout@optusnet.com.au>]

"David Bromage" <dbromage@fang.omni.com.au> wrote in message
3AD101B8.D3101BD5@fang.omni.com.au">news:3AD101B8.D3101BD5@fang.omni.com.au...
> The deaths of five men in January when their car and an XPT train
> collided has prompted a review of the State's 1,000 railway level
> crossings and a doubling of funding for safety improvements. The
> Transport Minister, Mr Scully, has asked the parliamentary Staysafe
> committee to inquire into the "status" of crossings, factors
> contributing to crashes and what education is needed for motorists.
>
> http://www.smh.com.au/news/0104/09/national/national11.html

<joke>
Isn't saying "XPT train" a bit redundant, like ATM machine or PIN number??
</joke>

Seriously, maybe as part of driver education the basic laws of physics should
be taught, particularly the principles of impulse and momentum.  After all,
too many drivers get too complacent on the roads (I've had to scrape some of
them up).  Big train, weighing several hundred tonnes, travelling at 160km/h,
is going to turn a car, weighing a tonne, maybe two, into razor blades without
much of a bump.

Maybe the motto for the next advertising campaign (not that they work) should
be "The train won't stop.  You must.  Otherwise, it'll win."

Do we just view level crossing accidents as Darwinism in action?

Bit off topic, but how many deaths are we expecting next weekend?

Al