Nigel Grainger brings together a related set of skills that all fleets require, to greater or lesser
degrees, but which may not have the staffing or the skills to fulfil those needs.
Bringing his wealth of experience in all areas of fleet management he offers a bespoke service through his company Fleet Risk Consultants, providing you with a cost effective fleet that complies fully with your 'duty of care' requirements.Risk Management – Level Crossings
Thursday last week was European Level Crossing Awareness Day, this is a great idea in one sense but why do we need to focus on Level Crossings for one day? I have seen drivers do some really stupid things at level crossings and I am struggling with the mentality of some road users on this one, so I shall try and be patient and level headed in this article.
The railways take care to ensure that the road users get timely warnings about trains approaching the Level Crossings where trains and vehicle share the same space, but preferably at different times. There are a few different types of level crossing, but they all have lights and sirens to warn of approaching trains, which prompts the question ‘Why do so many people feel the need to try and dodge the wait for the train to pass?’
The delays caused by waiting at a level crossing may be inconvenient, but they are unlikely to cause you a huge problem if you have planned your journey correctly. If you try and dodge around the barriers then it could be a matter of life or death and the death could be yours!
The safe way to use a level crossing is really very simple and requires very little from you as a driver, the details can be found in the Highway Code. You should never be stationary on the crossing and you should never enter onto the crossing until you are certain you can clear the crossing in one clear movement, the same way as you would avoid entering a hatched yellow box.
A moving train carries a huge amount of momentum and stopping a train is incredibly difficult to slow down as it has smooth wheels on a smooth track so traction is not that good. That means that whether the driver of the train wants to or not he is not going to be able to stop before it hits you if you are across the tracks. A train may weigh between 50 and 500 tonnes in comparison to a standard car which weighs around 1 tonne, so you can imagine the force that will be transferred from that train into the vehicle it strikes.
This is a high priority for the Transport Police and the press at the moment and I urge you to remind your drivers to be aware of the dangers and the rules in the Highway Code. Issue them with the Highway Code if you can, it only costs £2.50 for each copy and if you have an intranet you could put a link on there too.
Nigel Grainger
Senior Consultant
Fleet Risk Consultants