Train art gives a warning to motorists

Chris Cairns alongside artwork on one of Auckland's passenger trains. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Motorists in Auckland and Wellington are getting a chilling reminder of the need to stay well out of the way of trains at level crossings.

KiwiRail and the Chris Cairns Foundation are marking national rail safety week with large images on a train carriage depicting a car that has ploughed past level-crossing barrier arms and into the train.

The images have special meaning for international cricketer Chris Cairns, whose sister Louise was killed at the age of 19 when a concrete truck hit a train she was a passenger on in the South Island in 1993.

Cairns said yesterday that although it was heartening that the number of level-crossing crashes in the past 12 months was markedly lower than a 10-year average, it was still far too high at 16. The previous year's figure was 31 collisions.

KiwiRail chief executive Jim Quinn is alarmed at reports from train drivers of almost 150 near-collisions in the past 12 months, more than three-quarters of them at crossings protected by automatic alarms.

"We want these avoidable incidents to stop," he said.

"Not only do they cause immense harm to the people involved but they also have a terrible impact on our locomotive engineers who drive the trains."

Cairns said near-collisions often happened when people drove around barrier arms to try to beat trains.

But he was gratified that police were prosecuting more motorists for unsafe actions at level crossings, such as queuing across them.

Anyone caught driving or walking across a level crossing when there is a risk of colliding with a train can receive an instant infringement notice of $150 or a court fine of up to $20,000.

Fines of up to $1000 can be imposed for other offences such as passing a vehicle at or within 60m of a level crossing.

The Automobile Association is supporting the rail safety message warning drivers that trains cannot stop suddenly or swerve to avoid a crash.

Spokesman Mike Noon said it was too easy for motorists to misjudge the speed of oncoming trains.

"This is extremely dangerous as large moving objects like trains can often look like they are travelling slower than they are."

Mr Noon also warned drivers not to blindly trust the automatic alarms.

The Chris Cairns Foundation has also started an educational website this week: www.railsafety.co.nz.