Young mother takes risk pushing pram in front of oncoming train

October 14, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

A still shot from Network Rail's hard-hitting campaign warning about the dangers of level-crossings.

The event comes on the heels of a new campaign launched by Network Rail aimed at reducing the number of fatalities at level crossings.

Shortly after Network Rail launched its Don’t Run the Risk safety campaign on Monday, CCTV at Wareham station in Dorset captured footage of a mother pushing a pram over a level crossing just as a train began approaching.

The spot has been known for many near misses in the past, 10 of them just this year.

Councilor David Budd is pushing a campaign to add barriers at the crossing due to its dangerous misuse.

“This woman is doing exactly what many people do at this crossing - thinking they can get away with rushing across without looking,” he told the Daily Mail.

“It’s reckless whether she was pushing a pram or not, but all sorts of people do it to save time. They don’t seem to realize that trains are not going to stop for them like a car might.”

Network Rail has released additional footage of near misses and accidents at level crossing to help spread awareness about the risks. According to their records, nearly three motorists a week barely avoided close encounters with trains between January and August. In the same time period there were around 190 near misses by pedestrians crossing at dangerous times. Additionally, 12 people have died at level crossings this year, five of them this past September.

“We understand that people have busy lives and waiting can be frustrating,” said Iain Coucher, Network Rail chief executive.

“Our campaign asks ‘Would it kill you to wait?’ because sadly we know that not waiting can result in tragedy, and there’s no excuse for that.”

Network Rail has also released a list of the ten worst excuses given to rail officials by motorists and pedestrians breaking the crossing rules.

Among the list:

• “I thought the train would slow down to let me through.”
• “I just followed the person in front of me. I didn’t look.”
• “I’m glad you reminded me to look before crossing I don’t normally bother-mind you I was nearly knocked down by a train a few weeks ago.”

Video of the mother pushing the pram as a train approaches via YouTube below;