A motorist came within seconds of potential death or serious injury when a train ploughed into a trailer he was towing across a level crossing.
The Te Puke man is described as being "incredibly lucky" to escape uninjured after the locomotive towing wagons smashed into his single-axle trailer, ripped it off the tow bar and sent it and the pieces of wood it was carrying flying about 40m.
The incident involving the 51-year-old horticulturist happened at the crossing at State Highway 2 and Pah Rd near Te Puke about 8am yesterday.
Maketu volunteer fire chief Shane Beech said the train missed smashing into the man's ute by seconds.
"He obviously had not heard the bells or seen the lights and the ute crossed but the train hit the trailer," Mr Beech told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"He only just missed being hit. We are talking seconds, if that."
The force of the impact warped the ute's towbar where the trailer had been attached but there was no other damage to the vehicle.
The trailer was destroyed.
Mr Beech said the man was "incredibly lucky". In most cases, the impact of a train hitting a trailer would swing the towing vehicle around and into the rest of the train.
"Most times you get there and it's not often the car has won against a train," he said.
Mr Beech referred to the area as a black spot for crashes.
"Just down the road we have Maketu, where we lost two young lives with a train a few years ago. We do get a few train incidents here."
Brother and sister Ryan, 22, and Keeley, 20, Jamieson were killed in 2007 when their car was hit by a train at the rail crossing at Te Tumu Rd by Kiwifruit 360, 2km from Pah Rd.
At the time, the crossing had lights and bells but no barrier arms. Barrier arms were installed in July 2008 after the mother of the siblings campaigned for them.
The crash occurred two years after another fatal involving a car and train collision.
The siblings' mother, Heather Johnson, said yesterday's crash was another reminder that railroad crossings needed to have more warnings for road users.
"It is costly and I don't think it's going to happen overnight but it should be that every railway crossing in New Zealand have lights and barrier arms".
The man involved in yesterday's collision would not discuss it this morning.
A Te Puke St John Ambulance spokesman said officers attended but the man did not need treatment.
"He was sort of shaken but not too bad. I think he was more worried about his trailer. It was pretty much scattered everywhere."
The spokesman estimated parts of the trailer and its contents were thrown as far as 40m. The maximum line speed for the crossing is 80km/h. The train was not carrying any load.
Sergeant Mike Owen said a car parked to the side of the road partially blocked the crossing's warning lights "but that doesn't take away the liability from this guy".
Mr Owen said drivers needed to vigilant with rail safety, particularly with rural rail crossings.
"It's quite easy to become complacent when you are coming up to a railway crossing with no barrier arms, so obviously extra care needs to be taken."
KiwiRail public affairs manager Jenni Austin echoed the safety message.
"If a crossing has flashing lights and bells they should not cross until these have stopped," she said.
"Trains are often travelling faster than they appear and take a very long time to stop."
Pah Road's flashing lights and bell alarms were installed in December 1974. There are no barrier arms.
There have been two other collisions at the crossing including a crash in 2003 involving a 50-year-old Te Puke man whose car ploughed into the side of an oncoming train.
The man failed to stop and hit the side of a northbound locomotive carrying 54 log-laden carriages. He suffered head and back injuries.
A rail safety campaign, aimed to boost the reporting of near misses between vehicles and trains, was launched by cricketing star Chris Cairns last year at Bayfair Shopping Centre.
Cairns became the face for rail safety after his sister Louise was killed in 1993. A cement truck failed to sop at a Canterbury level crossing.
Cairns told the Bay of Plenty Times last year "our hope is that by getting the message out there that train drivers are reporting everything they see to the police, motorists and pedestrians might be less likely to take dangerous risks".
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS
April 2010: Mount Maunganui woman Kumiko Goodhall was hit and killed by a train while crossing railway lines at Matapihi.
June 2009: John Litchfield, 85, was killed when he attempted to cross train tracks from Maunganui Rd towards Omanu Golf Club course.
June 2007: Brother and sister Ryan Jamieson, 22, and Keeley Jamieson, 20, died when a 300m train smashed into their car on a rail crossing at Te Tumu Rd near Kiwifruit 360.
September 2006: A man driving a Mini collided with a freight train travelling at 70km/h and escaped without injury.
September 2005: A Bay of Plenty school bus narrowly avoided collision with an oncoming freight train at a level crossing on Caverhill Rd, between Te Puke and Kawerau. An investigation found the driver was playing "chicken" with the train and had 26 college passengers on board.
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