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Title: Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on November 18, 2017, 20:17:39 From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-42038330):
Quote Polegate level crossing hits woman, 89, on head (https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/171F7/production/_98811749_de27.jpg) Violet Tarrant said she was terrified she might die on the tracks An 89-year-old woman was left lying on a railway track after a level crossing barrier struck her on the head. Violet Tarrant said she feared for her life after the incident on Friday in Polegate, East Sussex. "I thought I was just going to die lying on that line. It terrified me," she said. A Network Rail spokesman said: "The level crossing was functioning correctly at the time with both visible and audible warnings in place." He said the incident was being reviewed by the level crossing safety team. Mrs Tarrant, who suffered injuries to her head and arm, said the barrier did not give her enough time to cross before it hit her. "I just laid there and screamed my head off," she said. (https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/3D5F/production/_98811751_de50.jpg) An elderly pedestrian pushing a shopping trolley was stuck between the same barriers last year It follows another incident at the same crossing in August last year when an elderly pedestrian pushing a shopping trolley became trapped on the railway line as the barriers came down. Since then Network Rail has installed additional safety lights. Campaigners have been calling for changes to be made to the barriers, saying pedestrians have less than 15 seconds to cross. Councillor David Watts, of Polegate Town Council, said: "From a health and safety point of view we can't have people going across the crossing with possibly a doubt in their mind whether or not they're going to be struck." Title: Re: Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017 Post by: grahame on November 18, 2017, 20:28:55 Quote An 89-year-old woman was left lying on a railway track after a level crossing barrier struck her on the head. Quote "Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss. What was the risk assessment for this particular unsafe use? Title: Re: Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on November 18, 2017, 21:35:10 Indeed. ::)
Quote A Network Rail spokesman said ... the incident was being reviewed by the level crossing safety team. Quote Councillor David Watts, of Polegate Town Council, said: "From a health and safety point of view we can't have people going across the crossing with possibly a doubt in their mind whether or not they're going to be struck." 'Polegate woman poleaxed' doesn't make good headlines for Network Rail, does it? :o Title: Re: Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017 Post by: TonyK on December 08, 2017, 15:53:09 Indeed. ::) 'Polegate woman poleaxed' doesn't make good headlines for Network Rail, does it? :o It does look like it could become known as Poleaxegate, doesn't it? 15 seconds is ample time for someone of less than perfect health to cross two tracks, but an 89-year-old woman could very easily find herself only part-way there before the gates start to close, and may not hear the warning sounds so clearly. It will be interesting to see the conclusions drawn from the safety team's investigation. Title: Re: Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 08, 2017, 22:37:42 It does look like it could become known as Poleaxegate, doesn't it? If it does, I claim my right to be identified as the author of the term. ::) Title: Re: Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017 Post by: Electric train on December 09, 2017, 08:02:49 The miss use of level crossings, outside of vehicles jumping lights etc. are -
School children (even "drunk" adults) hanging on the barrier arms as they lift placing excessive stress on the barrier components Barrier arm hit by vehicles again placing stress on the components. Very difficult to detect these type of stress related failures before the fail fully. ..................... Or she was just standing under it! This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |