Skip to main content

New guidelines on level crossing safety to help save lives

Road transport organisation the IRU, the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Operation Lifesaver Estonia (OLE) have joined forces to raise awareness about level crossing safety amongst transport professionals. Their recently-published Level Crossing Safety aims to raise awareness of professional drivers of how to avoid risks potentially leading to a collision and reduce related accidents at this key interface between road and rail infrastructure. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
May 10, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Road transport organisation the IRU, the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Operation Lifesaver Estonia (OLE) have joined forces to raise awareness about level crossing safety amongst transport professionals.

Their recently-published Level Crossing Safety aims to raise awareness of professional drivers of how to avoid risks potentially leading to a collision and reduce related accidents at this key interface between road and rail infrastructure.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 1968 Convention on Road Traffic and the Highway Code, states that “trains have priority, whilst road users and pedestrians must comply with road signs and signals in order to cross safely and consequently prevent any collision arising from misuse or inappropriate behaviour and potentially endangering train passengers, crew and other users.”

Global freight and passenger traffic, both road and rail, have increased markedly in recent decades, increasing the risks of collisions at level crossings and, in addition to raising driver awareness, the three organisations hope to enhance knowledge and safety in their design and use.

Related Content

  • Excessive lighting is safety issue
    May 21, 2012
    A UK-based group has set up an Internet-based petition to tackle the safety issue of drivers being dazzled by lights from other vehicles. The organisation, Lightmare, is the combination of two road sector groups that have campaigned against the improper use of vehicle lights in daytime and against the particular hazard posed by high intensity xenon lighting. The issue is a key one as there is a move towards all EC nations requiring the use of daytime running lights on vehicles. At present only a few Europea
  • Platooning with Ease on the I-70
    July 15, 2025
    What would happen to truck platooning - a nascent technology - if the weather turns nasty? The I-70 Truck Automation Corridor Project in the northern US should provide some answers, reports David Arminas…
  • UK’s Loughborough University attempts to smooth Europe’s path to C/AVs
    December 10, 2018
    Loughborough University in the UK is leading a three-year initiative which aims to assess the impact of introducing connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) in Europe. The £5.7m project, called Levitate, is funded by the European Union and will help European cities to plan for the effect C/AVs will have on infrastructure and society. Levitate began this month and will consider how AVs might improve safety, congestion and the environment, while looking at key policy decisions which would maximise thei
  • Qualcomm: How Connected Driving Will Reduce Emissions in the EU
    September 14, 2023
    In an era marked by climate change and an urgent need for greener mobility solutions, the advent of connected driving has emerged as a promising frontier in the realm of transportation.