Ethan Hunter and Madeline Bott were supposed to be married last month. Photo / Facebook
Ethan Hunter and Madeline Bott were supposed to be married last month. Photo / Facebook
A heartbroken fiancee is advocating for better safety at rail crossings after she was left having to plan her beloved partner's funeral instead of their dream wedding.
Ethan Hunter, 27, and his truck partner Mark Fenton, 50, were killed instantly when the road train truck they were in collided with a freight train in southwest New South Wales.
The truck burst into flames after the crash, with both men dying at the level crossing in Bribbaree on February 23.
Following their horrific deaths, Hunter's partner Madeline Bott, 26, is advocating for things to change, with a petition calling for better safety at level train crossings.
Bott said the two men were extremely responsible and tragically lost their lives because of the dangerous condition of the level crossing.
"They were in a road train truck carting gypsum from one side of a farm to the other," she said.
"Both incredibly sensible and hardworking men who did not race the train and with better railway safety measures both would still be here today.
"This railway crossing had only a simple stop and look for trains sign.
"This railway line's view is obstructed with overgrown grass and a significant amount of trees."
Pictures of the scene showed how horrific the crash was, with the melted remains of the truck sitting off the railway track.
The crash scene was horrific. Photo / Channel 9
Bott said the couple were due to get married on March 27 but instead of them finally having their dream wedding, she sat at her fiance's grave with their dog Knox.
Speaking to 7 News, Bott said she realised something was wrong when her fiance wasn't picking up his phone.
"His phone kept going to the voicemail so I decided to call one of our friends, she told me it would be fine," she said.
The friend called Bott back 10 minutes later, warning her "something bad" had happened.
"On my drive home I went past all the fire trucks and ambulances, I knew something terrible had happened," she said.
"Finally, I got to Ethan's family. Ethan's mother was in tears and told me he had passed away."
Promise to fight 'for our right to be safe at all level crossings'
The level crossing the men were trying to drive through is classified as "passive", meaning there are no flashing lights or boom gates to warn drivers of oncoming trains.
"In Australia only 21 per cent of our railway crossings are classified as 'active', which means they have lights or boom gates," Bott said.
"That means 79 per cent are classified as 'passive' which means they only have a stop or give way sign."
Bott said the more than 1000 near hits and nearly 30 fatalities recorded by the Australian Track Rail Corporation each year was too many.
"Today I am petitioning for lights to be made mandatory at all level crossings at a minimum.
"In rural areas we need to bridge this gap in transport and start fighting for our right to be safe at all level crossings."
Ethan and Madeline were due to get married. Photo / Facebook
Bott promised to fight for her fiance and Fenton and has already met with her local member of parliament to discuss potential changes.
"I will never be able to bring Ethan back, but I can fight to make sure I do all I can to prevent anyone else going through the pain I feel," she said.
"This is for you Ethan Hunter and Mark Fenton, I promise we are all going to fight for you."
Local MP Steph Cooke, the member for Cootamundra, promised she would get Bott's petition to parliament.
"I will provide every support to Madeline to ensure her online petition can be presented to NSW Parliament and collective calls from our community for improved railway level crossings are heard," Cooke said.
The change.org petition has already been signed more than 14,000 times.
