Looks like a quiet life driving a train back and forth on a set of rails. But every engineer has at least one close call every day because a motorist either ignores a train at a level railway crossing or just doesn’t see it.
We are creatures of habit. A driver may be vigilant the first time he approaches a railway crossing, but not the hundredth time.
And we’re not great at physics, either. It’s hard to imagine a locomotive lumbering along at 15 km/h simply cannot stop as quickly as a car.
Both the train accidents in the past week in Nova Scotia, one of them fatal, occurred at private rail crossings, both without warning lights. And while warning devices might help prevent such accidents, it’s hard to imagine CN or private landowners paying for them.
Drivers are just going to have to be more careful. The people who operate the locomotives would be grateful.
