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

  • La Trobe University trials connected motorcycle technology
    June 11, 2025
    Melbourne academics' programme enhances riders’ awareness of hazards
  • Measuring the effectiveness of winter VMS
    August 5, 2013
    A survey into the effectiveness of weather-related variable message signs on a trans-mountain highway has some interesting results, as Alexis Bacelar told ITS Europe. A study in the Massif Central region of France evaluating the usefulness of winter weather warning signs has highlighted the effect of variable message signs on driver behaviour. During the winter of 2009-2010, road operator Massif Central Direction Interdépartementale des Routes (MC DIR) started installing bad weather-specific variable messag
  • GIS mapping smoothes ITS operations and increases efficiencies
    January 30, 2012
    Alexander Gerschenkron, the famous economic historian, once posited a benefit for those countries which come late to economic development: that they could introduce the latest technology and thus jump over some of the standard development paths followed by their predecessors . It is entirely possible to make the same observation of late-comers to ITS: that they can gain from the pains of those who went before and more easily implement best practice in ITS. As a consequence, it is entirely likely the Abu Dha
  • ITS market size projected to reach US$66.5 billion by 2024
    October 13, 2016
    The global intelligent transportation system (ITS) market is expected to reach US$66.5 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research. The usage of ITS to reduce road accidents and increase safety is a major driving force for the ITS market. Demand for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication in order to enhance road safety is expected to gain momentum over the forecast period. The continuous progression and development have become a crucial need for b