Once again, a motorist has died following a collision
between a car and a train on a level crossing: this one was reported by the Sun yesterday, the accompanying photo
showing all too clearly the unequal contest between a car with a mass of just
over one tonne, and a four coach train with a mass of over 151 tonnes. Not for
nothing is there a move to eliminate level crossings over time.
This is in the best interests of both road and rail: on
occasion, motor vehicles can cause derailment of part of a train, as happened
in the collision
at Ufton Nervet level crossing in 2004, and that subsequent to Gary Hart
falling asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover on the M62 and driving on to the
East Coast Main Line (ECML) in the path of a London bound express, in 2001.
And those believing that having a EuroNCAP safety rating
somehow makes their vehicle impervious to a hit from a 100 tonne locomotive
should bear in mind what happened to the Renault Espace used in the Network
Rail (NR) demonstration that was subsequently featured on Top Gear, with characteristically witless commentary from Jeremy
Clarkson.
Here, a 50 year old diesel locomotive travelling at around
60mph struck the Espace more or less side-on, and the slo-mo replay
demonstrates that anyone in the passenger compartment would have been killed
instantly as most of the vehicle above the floor pan disintegrated. The
locomotive remained on the rails, although there was a significant amount of
ballast throwing.
Perhaps you have what you believe to be a bigger and harder
SUV than the Espace? Don’t you believe it: above floor level, nothing else
would fare any better, and that’s where the driver and passengers would be.
Modern cars are designed to allow their occupants to survive the kinds of
accidents that happen on roads, including roll-over and side hit, but nothing
protects against a rail vehicle.
So remember, folks, don’t even think about arguing with a
moving train. You aren’t going to win
that one, whatever you’re driving.
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