Heart-stopping moment driver comes within seconds of being hit by speeding train

Heart-stopping moment driver comes within seconds of being hit by speeding train after not looking both ways at level crossing

  • Footage shows driver waiting at crossing for one train to pass before pulling out
  • Motorist is seen crawling across intersection as train steams ahead in Cumbria
  • Individual manages to get across to a road seconds before the train whizzes past
  • BTP released video and the driver has since completed an £84 awareness course

This is the heart-stopping moment a driver comes within seconds of being hit by a speeding train after not looking both ways at a level crossing. 

Footage shows the motorist waiting at an open crossing for one train to pass before pulling out – without checking the other direction.

The driver is then captured crawling across the intersection as the train steams ahead in Barrow, Cumbria.

Luckily the individual, who has not been named, manages to get across to the safety of a road just seconds before the train whizzes past at speed. 

The driver is then seen crawling across the intersection as the train steams ahead

The motorist is pictured waiting at an open crossing (left) in Barrow, Cumbria, before crawling across the intersection (right) as the train steams ahead 

The British Transport Police (BTP) received the footage and since then the driver has successfully completed an £84 Level Crossing Awareness Course.

The alternative would have been to pay a £100 fixed penalty notice and take three points on their license.

The footage was captured in October last year on a camera connected to a train and has since been released by the BTP in a bid to warn others about road safety.

A spokesman said: ‘This is the moment a car driver at an open level crossing made the dangerous assumption that because one train had passed that it was safe to cross. It wasn’t.’

Footage captured in October shows the motorist travelling over the level crossing

The driver then reaches the safety of a road just before the train whizzes past at speed

Footage captured in October shows the motorist travelling over the level crossing (left) and reaching the safety of a road (right) just before the train whizzes past at speed

The footage was filmed on a camera connected to a train and has since been released by the British Transport Police (BTP) in a bid to warn others about road safety

The footage was filmed on a camera connected to a train and has since been released by the British Transport Police (BTP) in a bid to warn others about road safety

They added: ‘Car driver education is important in reducing these incidents.’

On its website, Network Rail states: ‘There are around 6,000 level crossings on our rail network and we have a legal duty to assess, manage and control the risk for everyone.

‘Level crossings can be categorised by their type, but each is unique, so we’ve worked with our rail industry partners to develop a standardised method for assessing crossing risk. 

‘Factors taken into account include frequency of trains, frequency and types of users and the environment and where the crossings are located.’

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