What Could Be Done To Prevent Crashes At A Railway Bridge?

[wolf63]

This one made me laugh - it has a simple solution.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/dundee/5178811/readers-have-their-say-broughty-ferry-railway-bridge/?

 

[davebro3]

what solution? does it apply to any low bridge?

[wolf63]

The bridge is there, it can't move, it doesn't have the ability to change the height rules.

Maybe motorists are not paying attention?  Make them pay attention.

[davebro3]

how? obviously the current signage doesn't always work

[albaqwerty]

Making the road one way - sounds a sensible solution.

My suggestion is to have traffic lights permanently at red with signage "you have to be this height or less to continue" and then press the button to turn lights green.

[mjwman]

Height sensors further back along the road, resulting in a bright red flashing STOP!-OVERHEIGHT sign at the entrance to the bridge.

[davebro3]

These low bridge crashes probably happen on a weekly basis somewhere or other throughout the country. Bridges are damaged, vehicles are damaged, bus passengers get injured, road & rail travel is disrupted.

Wolf has a simple solution - I would like to see it.

[maggiebee]

I drive under this bridge regularly and it is well signposted. There are of course idiots on the road who either can't read or pay no attention.  Van had its roof ripped off only last week - driver apparently said that he didn't realise how low the bridge was!! 

[ToraToraTora]

perhaps they could discuss this one at the same time...

https://news.sky.com/story/driver-arrested-after-car-crashes-onto-railway-lines-in-manchester-13304565

 

[webbo3]

“Lower the road to allow delivery vehicles under"

Lol

 

[sddsddean]

Actually webbo, it is not an uncommon solution.

[maggiebee]

Webbo, this particular bridge is on a very short road between two main roads.  There are at least 6 other roads without bridges that delivery vehicles could take.  Leave our history alone please.

[Old_Geezer]

Yeah a subway might well work.

 

Trouble with signage is that the brain starts ignoring things that are too common as these collisions show.

 

Better to have something easily repairable, and noisy when hit, to hit first and make it obvious to the driver; and it's cheaper than getting the bridge hit and repaired.

 

Of course it there's a way to detect excess height and create unmissable flashing signs, that'd be worth a try too.

[Old_Geezer]

...course, if there's...

[webbo3]

Maggiebee, it was a suggestion by someone, it in the article, NOT my idea

[wolf63]

Sorry, I  have been at work.

Educating the drivers not to go under a too-low bridge is surely the simplest solution.  The bridge hasn't just popped up overnight and, as Maggie says, there are alternative routes.

 

[Old_Geezer]

Does their sat nav know though ?

Folk tend to trust sat navs until they are obviously going wrong.

(I think there are special sat navs for large vehicle drivers.)

[davebro3]

wolf63 - if you think drivers aren't told not to go under low bridges with tall vehicles you must be living in a dream world. If telling them was the solution it would have ceased to be a problem when the highway code was first introduced. They are human, they forget about the size of their truck, the warning signs don't register in their minds, they simply screw up! Your "simple" solution hasn't worked for decades.

Other solutions require additional hardware at bridges as suggested above. Probably the cost of instaling it at ALL low bridges would be prohibitive. Maybe if there are particularly problematic ones it could be considered.

[bookbinder]

How about fitting height detectors in commercial vehicles? They could let the driver know that he's heading for a low bridge.

[Ryzen]

Either sensors either side or a pole of sorts either side around 25 mts away ,so the pole acts as a warning before the bridge gets impacted..a bit like the warning poles either side of power cables at roadworks.

[bhg481]

I seem to remember a low bridge as you approach Romsey, Hants from the east on the A3090 which flashed lights as you approached and lit up a sign warning high vehicles to immediately turn right to avoid the bridge. It's a few years since I last used that road and I can't remember whether it flashes for all vehicles or just tall ones (I drive a car) but I've certainly seen it lit, possibly by a following vehicle. Flashing lights catch the eye where static signs may not.