Safety at level crossings Deaths at railway level crossings continue to happen because road users fail to see trains particularly in rural areas, despite recommendations from Coroners over many years for inexpensive but effective warning devices. 
During the NSW Locomotive five-day training course, Locomotive Drivers Mark Sheargold, Greg Pryor, a | There are six RTBU locomotive drivers in the Griffith area of New South Wales who are experiencing regular collisions on level crossings, and are anxious for action to stop the accidents and the trauma for themselves. They do about 20 crossings each day, and all of them have experienced level crossing accidents. All twenty crossings in their area are unprotected, including two in the rail yard. Recently there were three accidents in four days. Management has been very slow to respond. Victorian Coroner Graeme Johnstone spoke to a Monash University conference on passive rail crossings on February 1, 2002, frustrated by the continuing deaths. He said that many railway crossings were dangerous because vegetation blocked a driver's view, and because drivers don't expect to see trains at remote locations. Back in 1989, Coroner Johnstone investigated seven deaths at passive railway crossings and recommended the installation of strobe warning lights, and the identification of high-risk sites. Action by rail and road authorities on these recommendations is clearly long overdue.
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