A woman has been killed after getting her foot stuck in a level crossing as a train approaches

[notalone]

uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080329/tuk-woman-with-stuck-foot-killed-by-trai-45dbed5_2.html

How truly terrible. Yes she was very stupid for crossing when the gates were going down, but imagine the sheer terror she must have felt. I used to have recurring nightmares about this when I was a kid.

And how brave the men were who tried to rescue her

My dad is a train driver, he sees idiots darting in front of him all the time to get to the otehr side of the track.

He had to have six months off work a couple of years ago when a young lad near liverpool commited suicide by laying across the track.

God how awful for him.

The info gleaned from the inquest upset him the most, hearing about how the chap had eventually found himself at the point of wanting to kill himself. Very distressing by all accounts.

I recall him telling me a few years ago about when he first started working for (then) British Rail as a Guard. Some kids (aged about 7/8) had played chicken on a track and one had been killed- he said he had to help the Transport Police find body pieces.

Not only that, he gets twats throwing bricks etc as he drives.

Im sure LTH hubby has similar tales.

Like tube drivers.
I believe they are told that they will invariably run over someone.It's a matter of when rather than if.

did you all read that Tim Dowling piece where he had been on a train that was delayed because someone threw themselves in front of it.

Someone came to ask the trolley for a cup of coffee for the driver - twas a really powerful sentence that.

From what I have read, she got free with someone's help and he told her to stay with him. Her boyfriend told her to move, as they needed to be on the other side for the train, she did and then she was hit and killed. Sounds like if she had stayed with her rescuer she would have been okay.

I have had a fear of this since I saw Fried Green Tomatoes at the cinema. Must be horrific to witness it for real.

it is the stuff of nightmares,

although as a youngster we had to cross over the tracks, if you had a child in a buggy or a bike, so you couldnt take the stairs.
that was not scarey then

yes, that tim dowling article,

having lived in london "body on the line" was quite a common and annoying hindrence to the journey

The wooden slats are there to keep people and animals off the track, there is a proper flat crossing as well. Maybe she thought the wooden slats were more of a challenge?

When I was about 7 we watched a film at school about 2 boys playing chicken on train tracks and one got his foot trapped. He was killed by a train. I have never forgotten it.

Young people of today think they are invincible and it won't happen to them.

Why or why didn't she stay where she was?

how very sad that her stupidity killed her. so sorry for her family and the men who tried to save her and of course the poor train driver.

I once saw a bloke jump down onto the tube line (where there is a live rail) to retrieve a football he'd kicked down there. It was right by the tunnel entrance, where the train was approaching (his hair and clothes were billowing in the draught) -- he climbed out with literally seconds to spare. It made me feel sick just to watch (happened too quickly for anyone else to do anything). Can't believe that people take such stupid risks.

My Nan used to live in the country and to access the downline or to cross from the downline to the exit, we sometimes crossed on the wooden platform that ran over the rails. There was actually a public right of way that ran across the rails at this point as well as a regular footbridge. Incredible now to think about it.

so, they crossed the crossing when the barrier was down, the warning lights flashing AND over the cattle grids that are there specifically to stop people walking on the tracks.

According to DH there are areas of track with no electric current running through them(only a few mtres worth), sometimes trains get stuck in these bits and need to be pushed over it. The bit of track is not live under the crossing for obvious reasons and IIRC the cattle grid things are there to also cover parts of live track(so that the unlive area isn't so big) so she could have quite easily been electrocuted anyway.
I'm not 100% sure if thats how/why it works but I'm sure DH will confirm it, or your dad TE.

Dh hasn't been involved in any fatalities. Not with people anyway. He hit and killed a massive wild boar the other day though

Where was boar LTH?

Especially around Tunbridge Wells apparently Fio
This is a horrible story. It must have been harrowing for all concerned
We had an HGV driver as a neighbour years ago and he had someone jump in front of him from on top of the Archway Road viaduct (they've tried to make it jump-proof now).
Ultimately it destroyed his career as he had panic attacks after that and his caring employer fired him

near Ashford, moondog...

Dh said he saw something big on the track but as it was dark couldn't work out what it was, it was big bang/crunch/thud though so he called the signaler so he call tell the train behind to approach with caution in case the track was damaged.
The driver on the train behind told DH that there was a whole gang of them milling around the dead one when his train slowly drove by.
Dh also said that the track workers are often called to that area to clear them from the track when they've been killed.

...signaler so he could tell the train...

lots of level crossings near me. seen teh odd person leap over them when the lights are on etc... makes me hold my breath... been the a few closures due to suicides and suicide attempts. the man we bought our house off was a train driver who had a break down after his train hit someone who was committing suicide. he never worked again and his life was ruined.

feel terribly sorry for this woman's family, a needles tragedy that could have been avoided,