More level crossing abuse

[Ediswan]

This from the BBC showing a partculalrly poor learner driver:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-41014353

A learner driver has been banned from driving - before she even got her licence - after crashing through a level crossing barrier.
Adenike Akingbogun, 44, of Monarch Drive, Sittingbourne, Kent, drove on to the crossing in Purfleet in Essex on Christmas Eve when the warning lights were flashing.
As the barriers came down behind and in front of her car she made the decision to reverse - crashing through the barrier and ramming the vehicle behind her.
British Transport Police said Akingbogun, who was with a qualified driver at the time, caused £1,100 of damage to the barrier. It was a "rather foolish manoeuvre", it said.
She was convicted of driving a motor vehicle dangerously, fined £420 plus costs and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

But look more closely. There is a pedestrian scuttling the other way towing two bags. And it looks rather like the car behind was also planning on keeping going.

 

[Elecman]

I can't fathom out why they just didn't keep on driving as the exit barrier was up for ages before they reversed into the other car and took out the barrier. One hope full prosecution followed as the insurance companies would certainly know who the perpetrator was

 

[yorkie]

A fine of £420 when she caused £1,100 of damage (not including any delay minutes!) sends out totally the wrong message.

And she is able to resume learning to drive after only 12 months?

Absolutely ridiculous, but not one bit surprising, of course. :roll:

 

[Merseysider]

What a cretin. That kind of stupidity on a level crossing puts lives at risk. Drivers can end up dead after hitting cars at speed, flying debris can be fatal to bystanders, and anyone witnessing a collision can suffer lifelong trauma.

Impound her car, scrap/sell it to cover some of the damage and at the very least give her a suspended sentence

 

[ilkestonian]

If you look at the car behind the first one, it looks like they were going to "follow the leader" across the tracks too. Almost served them right being rammed. If they'd stopped properly on the amber warning, they probably wouldn't have been so close and been hit.

 

[najaB]

A fine of £420 when she caused £1,100 of damage (not including any delay minutes!) sends out totally the wrong message.

The losses are a civil matter. The criminal court isn't the place to seek redress for financial losses - pretty sure I've read similar posted more than a few times elsewhere on this very forum.

And she is able to resume learning to drive after only 12 months?

I'm more concerned that her instructor doesn't appear to have received any punishment.

 

[Cowley]

Having taken one of the girls out for a driving lesson recently I can only imagine the sheer panic of the person who was teaching her at that moment. Unbelievable.

 

[Cowley]

I'm more concerned that her instructor doesn't appear to have received any punishment.

That does seem surprising doesn't it?

 

[bramling]

This from the BBC showing a partculalrly poor learner driver:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-41014353

But look more closely. There is a pedestrian scuttling the other way towing two bags. And it looks rather like the car behind was also planning on keeping going.

Utterly unbelievable. What a thick idiot. Scary the thought that someone with such utterly poor situational judgement was on the road and in charge of a vehicle. Very modest punishment as usual - she should be properly held accountable for her failings.

 

[notlob.divad]

At the risk of getting some abuse on here, this is a learner driver, there is no information in that article of how long they had been learning for.

They have clearly made a (yes very big) mistake and then panicked and just tried to get off the crossing before a train comes.

I'm with NajaB no this, what the hell was the 'instructor' doing, and what charges have been brought against them. They are the ones in command of the car.

 

[Holly]

Utterly unbelievable. What a thick idiot. Scary the thought that someone with such utterly poor situational judgement was on the road and in charge of a vehicle. Very modest punishment as usual - she should be properly held accountable for her failings.

I can empathise, this was a learner. I would guess (only a guess) that the "instructor" stupidly pointed out that she had crossed a closing level crossing barrier against the warning lights but - crucially - did not wait for her to clear the crossing before pointing out the fault.
The driver then panicked. At least partly the instructor's fault. Novices commonly do stupid things merely because they are novices.

In this day and age of modern electronics the design of the crossings should be improved so that a dangerous presence of a car on the crossing is detected and the exit gates then do not close but a siren sounds instead.

 

[Tomnick]

In this day and age of modern electronics the design of the crossings should be improved so that a dangerous presence of a car on the crossing is detected and the exit gates then do not close but a siren sounds instead.

MCB-OD crossings do that, albeit without the additional siren. Any full barrier crossing has to be proved clear before the protecting signal can be cleared though, usually by either direct observation or via CCTV, so the presence of a car on the crossing shouldn't be particularly dangerous.

 

[pdeaves]

I'm more concerned that her instructor doesn't appear to have received any punishment.

In fairness, the article states "who was with a qualified driver at the time", not "with an instructor", so it could well have just been a 'mate' in the passenger seat.

 

[theageofthetra]

Any information on this equally thick 'mate'?

 

[gg1]

In fairness, the article states "who was with a qualified driver at the time", not "with an instructor", so it could well have just been a 'mate' in the passenger seat.

I would have still expected some form of sanction against them, surely the person siting next to a learner has a degree of responsibility in cases such as this??

 

[daikilo]

Any information on this equally thick 'mate'?

Two comments:
1) the qualified driver is required to help the learner resolve unexpected driving issues
2) the one thing NOT to do is leave the car on the tracks, reversing through the barrier and into another car was probably the safest outcome and only the learner can actually do that.
Note that the qualified driver may well have tried to have the learner stop the car before the barrier, but without success.

 

[Tomnick]

Two comments:
1) the qualified driver is required to help the learner resolve unexpected driving issues
2) the one thing NOT to do is leave the car on the tracks, reversing through the barrier and into another car was probably the safest outcome and only the learner can actually do that.
Note that the qualified driver may well have tried to have the learner stop the car before the barrier, but without success.

Driving forward and off the crossing under the trailing barrier, which was initially still raised, would have been the safest outcome. Even driving through that barrier, if it had lowered in the meantime, would have been safer than reversing quite quickly into a vehicle behind (what if someone had been walking across in front of that car to try and get into a position to help?). Staying put and waiting for the barriers to raise, in this case, would have been safer than that, although I accept that it's not reasonable or sensible to expect road users to understand the distinction between supervised full-barrier crossings and automatic half-barrier crossings.

 

[pdeaves]

I would have still expected some form of sanction against them, surely the person siting next to a learner has a degree of responsibility in cases such as this??

I wholeheartedly agree. I was just drawing the distinction between a proper instructor who ought to know better [1] at all times and someone with a licence in the vehicle who could be almost as clueless as the driver.

[1] That said, I have witnessed an instructor leaning out yelling abuse at passers-by before with the learner valiantly trying to carry on as normal

 

[ac6000cw]

If you look carefully at the BBC video, it looks like the car was almost stationary at the beginning of the video (note the queue of cars behind it) clear of the crossing, then moved forward quite quickly and stopped suddenly. I wonder if there were cars in front that had moved away over the crossing (maybe they had been queuing across it) and she had been waiting for them to move, had not been paying attention, then suddenly realised that they had moved, started to follow them without thinking and the qualified driver in the car told her that she had gone past the red lights - then she panicked...

The above is just supposition, but in traffic queues it's all too easy to get into a 'sheep' mentality of just following the vehicle in front...

As others have said, the qualified driver is at least as much to blame here - the whole point of them being in the car is to monitor and advise the inexperienced learner driver.

 

[bramling]

Two comments:
1) the qualified driver is required to help the learner resolve unexpected driving issues
2) the one thing NOT to do is leave the car on the tracks, reversing through the barrier and into another car was probably the safest outcome and only the learner can actually do that.
Note that the qualified driver may well have tried to have the learner stop the car before the barrier, but without success.

Ramming another car with some force is never a safe outcome, particularly as I'll bet no proper check of mirrors was made, so someone could have been walking between the two cars at the time. There was ample opportunity to move forwards off the crossing, or at least move the car so it was clear of the tracks, so it all points to extremely poor situational judgement for someone in charge of a vehicle, regardless of whether there was an instructor, mate or whoever else present.

The car behind doesn't seem entirely whiter-than-white either.

 

[GB]

I would have still expected some form of sanction against them, surely the person siting next to a learner has a degree of responsibility in cases such as this??

Ultimately you have to think what can an instructor do actually do if the car isn't dual control? Not like they can suddenly take control of the car.

 

[alxndr]

It's my understanding that usually only an extra clutch and brake are fitted in dual control cars, so even if this happened to be an instructors car there's little they could realistically do other than brake and keep them on the crossing. It doesn't look like an instructors car though, considering they're usually smothered in adverts and branding, so I'd imagine probably was just a lay person with her. I am surprised they haven't been sanctioned though.

The choice to reverse is definitely strange, my natural instinct would be to put my foot down and accelerate rapidly out of there (even with knowing how protecting signals work etc).

 

[najaB]

It doesn't look like an instructors car though, considering they're usually smothered in adverts and branding, so I'd imagine probably was just a lay person with her. I am surprised they haven't been sanctioned though.

I was using the term 'instructor' generically, rather than necessarily meaning a professional driving instructor. Regardless of their status, the reason they are in the car is to provide guidance to avoid the learner ending up in a situation beyond their capability.

The barrier was already on its way down at the start of the clip, which means the yodel alarm and yellow then red lights would have been on for some 20 to 30 seconds. There isn't really any excuse for moving forward - the problem with the 'following the car in front' theory is that there's no car in front. They were then stationary for approx 4 seconds before reversing - while the gate in front of them was open, and stayed open for another six to seven seconds.

So, as I see it, the instructor/mate is guilty of three sins:

1. They should never have allowed the learner to enter the level crossing with the lights/alarm going.
2. They should not have told them to stop once on the crossing - there was a clear exit path in front of them.
3. Having stopped, they shoudl have continued forwards - the exit patth was clear.

Professional instructor or not, I question their fitness to be in command of a vehicle.

 

[bramling]

I was using the term 'instructor' generically, rather than necessarily meaning a professional driving instructor. Regardless of their status, the reason they are in the car is to provide guidance to avoid the learner ending up in a situation beyond their capability.

The barrier was already on its way down at the start of the clip, which means the yodel alarm and yellow then red lights would have been on for some 20 to 30 seconds. There isn't really any excuse for moving forward - the problem with the 'following the car in front' theory is that there's no car in front. They were then stationary for approx 4 seconds before reversing - while the gate in front of them was open, and stayed open for another six to seven seconds.

So, as I see it, the instructor/mate is guilty of three sins:

1. They should never have allowed the learner to enter the level crossing with the lights/alarm going.
2. They should not have told them to stop once on the crossing - there was a clear exit path in front of them.
3. Having stopped, they shoudl have continued forwards - the exit patth was clear.

Professional instructor or not, I question their fitness to be in command of a vehicle.

Yep, absolutely - the whole incident is a display of sheer incompetence.

But, sadly, quite typical of the atrocious standards of driving which are increasingly common in the London area. One lovely thing about taking a holiday virtually anywhere in Britain away from the south-east is how the standard of driving dramatically improves. One wonders why...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The choice to reverse is definitely strange, my natural instinct would be to put my foot down and accelerate rapidly out of there (even with knowing how protecting signals work etc).

Mine too.

My prayer - please lord, protect the rail users from idiot road users.