LEVEL CROSSING PERIL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17236, 16 April 1930, Page 6

LEVEL CROSSING PERIL

MAIZE SCREENS VISION MOTORISTS’ NARROW ESCAPE Within the jmst- month there declined at, King's road a serious level crossing accident in. which a lorry driver suffered severe injuries, the accident being contributed to by the, fact that standing maize crops on either side of the line screened the approach of the train which struck the lorry. This mishap was nearly repeated yesterday at the crossing on the main highway about a mile from Alakaraka, where the, Ngatapa line crosses the road diagonally, running between high standing crops of maize', the incident calling attention once again to the, necessity for the greatest care in approaching Ibis type of crossing. Two well-known < Jisborne residents were concerned in yesterday's incident, and the narrow margin by which they escaped disaster is indicated by the fact that the rear wing of the car in which they were travelling was struck by some projecting portion of the railway engine which suddenly loomed within a few yards of them. The presence of mind of the car-driver was responsible for averting a serious smash, as by acting instantaneously, be was able to swing bis machine round parallel-with the railway line; had he endeavored, cither to halt his ear or to beat the train across the rails, disaster must have followed. As it was, his ear was tumbled into a deep ditch at the roadside, and required the combined efforts o? a number of men to extricate ii. The car was damaged to some extent, but the owner-driver and his passenger felt that they bad escaped very lightly from an emergency of a. tyn'e that few care to meet.

Discussing the incident, with a- pressman to-dav, one, of the occupants of the ear explained that the first they knew of the anproarh of Ihe train was when they saw if dash out- from behind the screen of maize which grows right up to the intersection of the rails and the road. Apparently the engine driver had blown the. whistle to warn traffic of the train s approach, hut the first signal was, unheard bv the two men in the car. They saw the engine and heard a final blast of the whistle almost simultaneously, and by that time it was too late to halt or speed up to pass in front of the engine. The safety measure taken by the eardriver was probably the only one which could have been effective,, and the margin of success was sufficiently mn vow? the rear of the car swaying justwithin reach of a portion of th'e engine. Within a few moments of the accident, several residents of the neighborhood -were oil the scene, and in conversation with some of these, the occupants of the ear learned that move than tnie similar mishap had occurred at that crossing within the past week or two. The maize crops have reached n height of six or seven feet, and .completely mask the approach of trains, which run so mtreiiuentlv on this section that ordinary traffic on the roads is inconvenienced only occasionally The crops also- have the effect of deflecting whistle signals, thus contributing further to the dangoi of collisions. ~ , Wh-Mi the reports of other accidents at the Makaraka crossing were referred to the stationmastev at (lisbornc, Mr. N'orthover, hn stated that- he was unaware of any oilier ear being involved recently. Mr. Northover added that the crossinVis a safe one in ordinary times, but that the growth of the maize crops had added to the hazards. He called attention to the regulations, which require a motor-driver to slow down to It) miles an hour when 100 yards! from a crossing where no compulsory stop not ice is erected, and which place the onus of avoiding collisions upon the useis of (| u , road. At the King's road crossing where a motor-lorry was smashed recently and the driver injured, there are eomnidsory slop notices, and even driver of a veehjele is hound by law to bring his vehicle to a dead stop before attempting the crossing, Mi‘. 1 Northover explained.