Rail crossing safety questioned in France

The safety of rail crossings is being questioned in France. This follows a fatal collision involving a school bus and a train. Five of the children on the bus were killed in the crash, with another 18 people being injured, including 14 children. The bus had been carrying 20 children when it was involved in the collision with the train, at a crossing close to the Spanish border and around 18km west of Perpignan. The crossing is said to have been functioning correctly according to the French rail operator, SN
December 20, 2017 Read time: 1 min

The safety of rail crossings is being questioned in France. This follows a fatal collision involving a school bus and a train. Five of the children on the bus were killed in the crash, with another 18 people being injured, including 14 children. The bus had been carrying 20 children when it was involved in the collision with the train, at a crossing close to the Spanish border and around 18km west of Perpignan. The crossing is said to have been functioning correctly according to the French rail operator, SNCF. Following this collision there were 36 people killed in crashes at rail crossings in France during 2017, compared with 31 for 2016. However according to the Transport Ministry, human error is the cause of 98% of collisions at rail crossings.

Related Content

  • Poor levels of road safety for South Africa’s motorcycle riders
    January 7, 2019
    South Africa suffered poor safety levels for motorcyclists during 2018, with a 9% increase in fatalities compared to 2017. During 2018 there were 183 fatalities amongst motorcycle drivers and passengers in South Africa, compared to 166 in 2017. Meanwhile there were 508 powered two wheeler riders seriously injured in 2018, compared with 521 the previous year. Of those killed or seriously injured in crashes, 651 were male and 58 were female in 2018, compared with 631 males and 56 females killed or seriously i
    Read More
  • UK road safety gain during pandemic
    October 14, 2021
    The UK has seen a road safety gain during the pandemic.
    Read More
  • Road safety is an EU priority
    March 2, 2012
    The preparation of the new EU Road Safety Policy for the next decade will take place during Spain's presidency of the EU. Patrick Smith reports. An the past 10 years, half a million people have been killed on European Union roads, with road crashes costing an annual €160 billion or 2% the EU's GDP.
    Read More
  • UK figures for 2012 show drop in fatalities
    September 26, 2013
    Provisional figures available from the UK’s Department for Transport reveal a drop in road fatalities in 2012 compared with the previous year. There were 1,754 fatalities in 2012, an 8% drop from 2011 according to the DfT information. In all 195,723 were killed or injured on UK roads in 2012, a drop of 4% from 2011 while 23,039 were seriously injured a drop of 0.4%. Vehicle traffic levels fell just 0.4% for 2012 compared with 2011 however. The number of pedestrian deaths, as well as motorcyclist and car occ
    Read More

Highlighted Content