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NORTHERN EUROPE PROFILE: ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BOARD OF FINLAND
and installing STOP signs before the
crossing
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Designing and carrying out the road
profile in terms of its wait platform so
as to prevent any risk of jamming in
any instance
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Informing and trying to pay drivers'
attention to the great importance of
stopping at a level crossing and that
the safe sightline is generally attained
not earlier than at distance of 8 meters
from the railway
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Paying much more attention to
behaviour at level crossing in basic
Figure 6: Evenness of road in fatal level crossing accidents in Finland in 1991–2004.
and advance driver training
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Increasing the monitoring of level
traffic. Finland's level crossings and level authorities. Safety should be the most crossings, possibly including camera
crossing accidents are distributed over a important factor. surveillance.
wide area, which is natural for a sparsely The main recommendation of the
populated country. Most of the commission is that stopping before the The implementation of these measures
unprotected level crossings are situated in level crossing should be adopted as the requires cooperation among all
countryside on private owned village regular model of behaviour at unprotected parties involved (rail operators,
roads and farm roads. level crossings in which the sightline along infrastructure managers, road keepers,
the railway isn't attained earlier than at a communities, etc.)
‘‘The commission
distance of 8 meters from the track. The commission made nine other
considered that the basis
The implementation of this could be recommendations and reiterated three
promoted by: recommendations made earlier to improve
for improving level
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Inventorying level crossings to identify the level crossing safety.
crossing safety should be
on which the sightline towards the The original safety study (summary,
the removal of level
railway isn't attained earlier than at foreword, tables on accidents, as well as
crossings’’
distance of 8 meters from the railway the legends for the images, charts and
From the new seven accidents that
we investigated, we found out the
main facts that they occurred at a level
crossing familiar to the driver. In five
cases, the level crossing was unprotected
(in four cases equipped with STOP
signs). In one case, it was equipped
with light and sound warning installation
and in one with half-barriers. In all
cases, the car drove to the crossing
without stopping. The driver either
failed to observe the train or observed
it too late. And we also noticed that it
depends on luck whether the level
crossing accident leads to death or
to no injuries.
The commission considered that
the basis for improving level crossing
safety should be the removal of level
crossings. In the long-term, the number of
Figure 7: The worst of the accidents investigated by the commission occurred at an unprotected
level crossings should be reduced
level crossing in Kälviä, where a Pendolino train, at a speed of 140 km/h, collided with a lorry
carrying livestock.
following an established plan of
www.europeanrailwayreview.com EUROPEAN RAILWAY REVIEW
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ISSUE 3
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