During Rail Safety Week, Central District Police are urging motorists to pay attention around train tracks and level crossings.
Just last week, emergency services responded to a collision between a freight train and a ute near Dannevirke.
The incident occurred at around 9.45am on Monday 31 July, on Kakahukura Road.
While enquiries into the circumstances of the collision are still under way, initial indications are that the driver of the ute failed to give way to the approaching freight train.
The ute driver and a passenger were transported to Palmerston North Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
“It is absolutely vital that motorists pay attention around train tracks,” says Sergeant Gary McKernon from Dannevirke Police.
“The people involved in this incident were very fortunate to not suffer serious injuries or lose their lives.”
“There is no room for complacency. People should be checking for trains when they cross railway tracks, the same way they check for cars when they cross a road. And drivers must always obey bells, lights and barriers – and where there are none, they should always look both ways before they proceed across the railway tracks.”
Driving across a level crossing without looking – and perhaps without even knowing what they are? Can’t read the signs perhaps? Won’t have a clue what a ‘steely stare’ means. Testers should get people to read a couple of sections of the road code out loud, then ask them to write the answers to the questions while you wait. As used to be done.