Bid to drive home rail safety

The scene of the crash between a logging train and a truck carrying kumara at Tangowahine Settlement Rd, near Dargaville, in 2009. Photo / File

Railway crossings around Whangarei will be under police scrutiny in a joint operation to promote rail safety awareness this week.

The week aims to educate motorists, cyclists and pedestrians about the dangers of level crossings.

Whangarei police Traffic Alcohol Group Sergeant Tai Patrick said it was a reminder for people to take care when crossing railway lines. He said motorists needed to slow down, and look both ways before moving off. Complacency and inattention could lead to crashes, he said.

"Pedestrians should always cross at a pedestrian crossing or at a designated overpass or underpass."

Rail Safety Week is co-ordinated by KiwiRail, TrackSafe NZ with the support of the police and NZ Transport Agency.

Police were unable to supply statistics on how many rail incidents there had been in Northland. However, Northern Advocate archives show in 2008 a 13-year-old girl was struck by a train and dragged along the tracks and needed surgery on her face. The Whangarei Girls' High School student was hit by a shunting engine about 3.30pm as she crossed the tracks from Lupton Ave into Dinnis Ave.

The girl was with her friends at the designated crossing when the train approached. Her friends stopped in the safety area, but she continued.

The train driver saw the girl and sounded the horn and tried to stop the train. The student was clipped and was dragged a few metres before falling to the side of the tracks and being knocked unconscious.

In 2009 a truck driver hauling kumara had a lucky escape when his truck was shunted 40m after colliding with a train near Dargaville. The truck was t-boned at the intersection of Tangowahine Settlement East road and SH14.