Polegate railway level crossing barrier hits woman, 89, on head - 17 Nov 2017

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Polegate level crossing hits woman, 89, on head


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.


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."

[grahame]

An 89-year-old woman was left lying on a railway track after a level crossing barrier struck her on the head.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.

What was the risk assessment for this particular unsafe use?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed. 

A Network Rail spokesman said ... the incident was being reviewed by the level crossing safety team.

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? 

[TonyK]

Indeed. 

'Polegate woman poleaxed' doesn't make good headlines for Network Rail, does it? 

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.

[Chris from Nailsea]

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. 

[Electric train]

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!