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

["Lineman" <grime@dcsi.net.au>]

Adrian & Jean <sultan@nw.com.au> wrote in message
38144b70.0@news.highway1.com.au">news:38144b70.0@news.highway1.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
>
> That's all very well but what happens when the booms come down on a single
lane road and stay down for lets say an average failure time of 1 hour.where
do the motorists go,how long do they reasonably sit waiting for something to
happen.
No you did not read what I wrote.
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
Now does that make sense to you.
If this was the norm perhaps they would design a better system and or employ
more maintenance staff to fix problems or build grade separations  where
ever possible.
Lineman