Police lend support to rail safety campaign

25 August 2011

Police lend support to rail safety campaign

Canterbury District Police are supporting National Rail Safety Week this year by helping to spread the rail safety message ‘Stay Clear. Stay Safe’ at railway level crossings in Canterbury.

Police officers and KiwiRail staff were stationed at a level crossing in Hornby and another in Kirwee this morning in a bid to help combat driver and pedestrian behaviour that has led to 50 road and pedestrian level crossing collisions in the Canterbury region over the last ten years – almost 20 percent of the national total.

The officers spoke to motorists and pedestrians about the importance of being vigilant when crossing the tracks and obeying level crossing warning signs.

National Rail Safety Week is run by KiwiRail in conjunction with the Chris Cairns Foundation and was officially launched on Monday. It is running throughout the week with a number of events and activities taking place around the country.

KiwiRail Chief executive Jim Quinn says support from other agencies, including Police, help to make the awareness campaign a success.

“National Rail Safety Week is an opportunity for all of us involved in road and rail to encourage drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to be aware of the dangers around rail tracks and level crossings,” Mr Quinn says.

KiwiRail upgrades around 10 level crossings a year, and Police were stationed today at the recently uprgaded Courtenay Road level crossing in Kirwee and at Amyes Rd in Hornby – a collision ‘black spot’ which is being upgraded by KiwiRail within the next twelve months.

Police and KiwiRail are cautioning that driver behaviour at level crossings shows that more lights, bells and barrier arms are not the only answer.

“Reports from our train drivers show that there have been over 150 near collisions in the past 12 months, with around 78 percent of those events occurring at crossings protected by automatic alarms,” Mr Quinn says.

“The onus is always on motorists and pedestrians to give way to trains, and they always need to obey the warning signs at level crossings,” says Police officer Warren Campbell, from Canterbury District’s Road Policing Branch.

This year’s nationwide campaign included the unveiling of a train carriage in Auckland and Wellington carrying a graphic rail safety image, a nationwide rail safety roadshow being conducted by KiwiRail, radio advertising and other promotional activities around the regions. A new website, www.railsafety.co.nz, has also been launched to raise awareness and educate the public about rail safety.

“We want to spread the rail safety message to ‘Stay Clear. Stay Safe’ far and wide,” says Mr Quinn.

ENDS

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