Re: level crossing near misses, was Re: problems at ringwood

["Adrian & Jean" <sultan@nw.com.au>]

Lineman <grime@dcsi.net.au> wrote in message 3810f811@nap-ns1">news:3810f811@nap-ns1...
> Dave and Michael should actually sit back and read what they have written
> about death,because I think they have both been to Kennet arrogance
> school,or perhaps its just youth,and being male,the largest group of the
> population statistically likely to be killed in a road accident pumping
> there gums.
> Do you know that about 37 years ago my dad and the rest of us in the car
> where a split second from being cleaned up by the Rail motor on the up
from
> Daylesford at a wig wag crossing.
> The grass was long,the weather was fine the wig wag was working and Dad
got
> the brakes on in the Austin A40 just enough to miss the motor. It was very
> very close and I still remember it to this day,vividly.We where all very
> shit scared.
> IM(H)O boom gates are designed to protect trains from road vehicles,which
in
> this day is flawed logic
> A program started in the 1950s in Vic. should be fast tracked(no pun
> intended) and that program is the grade separation of road and rail in as
> many locations as possible and hang the cost.
> Failing this xings with booms that come down stopping road traffic under
> failure conditions should be redesigned to stop rail traffic from entering
> the crossing,rather than road traffic sitting and sitting and sitting.
> The way things are today is a poor substitute for an efficient traffic
> control system.
> Lineman
>
>
Are you for real?
You obviously have no concept on the time it takes to stop a train and then
to get it moving again.
The system that is in operation now is a very efficient one if only people
would obey a simple traffic signal.  If I was to stop at every level
crossing on my journey I would never get to my destination.
Flashing lights and boom gates or a combination of both are there for a very
good reason and if people choose to ignore them then they deserve the
consequences.  I might seem cold hearted to some of you but I do not like to
see people die as much as the next person.
In my job as a loco operator I see people risk their lives every day for the
sake of a few minutes delay.  I have been fortunate enough not to have had a
level crossing fatality yet but I know many drivers who have, some of whom
can not work again due to the trauma suffered.

Adrian
sultan at amitar dot com dot au