Re: [NSW] Five (in a car) thought dead after train crash

[usenet.spam@gunzel.net (Michael)]

Ted Gay <tedgay@bigpond.com> wrote in article 
<D3xd6.13000$65.69821@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>:

>How strong would the boom gates need to be to prevent a speeding car from
>getting in front of the train?  Who is going to fund the cost of continual
>replacement of the booms?

The likelyhood of someone driving through a set of booms and into a train 
would most likely be significantly reduced compared to that of driving 
through a set of red lights and into a train. I don't have any figures 
here, but it would be safe to assume that people speed through the red 
lights "because they can", with minimal effort. The installation of boom 
gates at least lessens the chance that someone will go through, since they 
need to physically weave around the booms. 

Just to back that up, I rarely see people drive around booms, but, I have 
seen people drive straight through red flashing lights so many times. I 
have probably seen less people go through a boom than a red light, ever. 
Considering 90% of the level crossings I get to see are boom gates, that 
has to amount to something. 

Perhaps we need to investigate some other sort of level crossing 
protection? In other forums I've seen ideas discussed such as spikes in the 
road that rise when the level crossing has started. The other idea put 
forward was a net which came down between two steel beams which practically 
trapped the car and required an authority to cut free - this had apparently 
been trialled successfully in the USA (This one is probably a little far 
fetched, but if it works then why not). Even if you can make it hard for 
people to weave around the booms by putting a division in the road or 
installing a second set of booms on the "wrong side", it would be a 
considerable improvement.

Re the cost of the continual replacement of the beams, fine the drivers who 
drive through them and on top make them pay the cost for the boom 
replacement. Could be a pretty expensive excercise for the driver in 
question and might change a few minds on evading level crossings.

Michael.

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