Trespassers - What would you have done?

[skyhigh]

Meant to ... we recently had an incident where BTP wanted to look at the underside of a train which had potentially been involved in a fatality incident. Before staff arrived, BTP had been and gone, breaking their way through the sidings gate, and leaving it insecure afterwards so anyone could have walked in. The initial incident wasn't even one which was being treated as suspicious. There was a bit of a stir about what happened, but old habits die hard and I don't expect anything was actually done about it.

That's certainly not what officers are taught to do during training...

 

[EM2]

I'm a rock climber. Should I be stopped from doing that, as some parts of that activity can be dangerous - more dangerous than crossing a rural branch line with good views in both directions (not that I do the latter because it's illegal, but I certainly have done it where legal i.e. at a foot crossing, and in other countries where it is normal practice).

If you fall and die while climbing, who else is affected? There's no driver of a vehicle that has hit you, that could suffer serious PTSD (as an example).

Do you try to stop someone crossing the road in an obviously dangerous place?

Are all roads fenced off, which makes it quite clear that you should not be there?

 

[jindivik]

"i would do nothing" ... " it's their own fault for being there" .... can't believe i'm reading things like that....perhaps a driver is concentrating on their route, you may see someone lineside at the top of a cutting/hiding in trees from the side on that the driver is unable to see and the guard may be out serving the customers......... YES, they should know better to not be there, but what happens if the next train comes along and hits someone, the potential of two destroyed careers of the driver/guard and upset caused to other passengers who may be witness to someone being smashed to pieces.... it isn't all about the idiots on the track having to "know better" .... there are a lot more people who need protecting, to do nothing is absolutely ridiculous!

 

[LOL The Irony]

Am I allowed to take Jeremy Clarkson's stance?

 

[fowler9]

Would you also criminalise jaywalking?

There are far, far more car drivers traumatised by colliding with careless pedestrians than train drivers.

The attitude to trespass is certainly a cultural thing and I expect was ingrained in British culture from an early stage. After all, the first railway fatality happened in Britain. As with most cultural things it's difficult to pronounce them as necessarily good or bad. Overall I think we have a fair balance with the current approach.

I would argue that far more pedestrians are traumatised or killed by careless motorists than the other way around.

 

[bramling]

"i would do nothing" ... " it's their own fault for being there" .... can't believe i'm reading things like that....perhaps a driver is concentrating on their route, you may see someone lineside at the top of a cutting/hiding in trees from the side on that the driver is unable to see and the guard may be out serving the customers......... YES, they should know better to not be there, but what happens if the next train comes along and hits someone, the potential of two destroyed careers of the driver/guard and upset caused to other passengers who may be witness to someone being smashed to pieces.... it isn't all about the idiots on the track having to "know better" .... there are a lot more people who need protecting, to do nothing is absolutely ridiculous!

How many trespass incidents actually result in a near miss or fatality? My feeling is that most incidents are deliberate suicides or careless use of authorised crossing locations. By the time a report filters through they will have either gone, or if an incident is going to happen then it will have done.

 

[fowler9]

I think avoiding comparisons with the roads would be helpful. Unless of course all motorists would be comfortable loosing their license forever if they were found to have been breaking the rules of the road when they hit someone. They would of course argue that pedestrians should need a walking license the same way someone driving a 2 tonne killing machine does though. (Anyone who thinks I am exaggerating can feel free to tell me how many motorists have been killed by inconsiderate pedestrians this last year).

 

[12CSVT]

Regarding what happened on the Walton-on-Naze branch last weekend, I would guess that among the thousands of photos taken (hopefully from the right side of the fence), it should be possible to identify the majority of culprits. I would sincerely hope that all those caught get the maximum penalty when they appear in court, and quite frankly they deserve to be held financially responsible for the delay minutes incurred.

Sadly it looks increasingly likely that some people won't learn unless steam is banned from the main line altogether.

 

[12CSVT]

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