Man Dead in Train Crash After Fence Visibility Failure

A new fence may have been responsible for the death of a man whose car was hit by a train in North Yorkshire.

According to the BBC, Mr John Power, 54, died when his car went on to the railway tracks at Copmanthorpe in 2006.

An inquest which was being held in York heard how a new fence had been erected near the tracks six weeks prior to the accident and that, not only was the new fence not as visible as the previous fence, it did not indicated that there were railway tracks beyond it.

Mr John Milner, who lived locally and gave evidence at the inquest, also criticised the signage in the area which he felt failed to sufficiently alert drivers to the nearby railway line.

North Yorkshire Police officer Steve Kirkbright, who investigated the collision, told the inquest that there were no signs to inform people of the rail tracks and that he thought Mr Power may have become aware of the fence and the approaching train when it was too late to react. Tyre marks on the road suggested Mr Power had been travelling between 30 and 40 mph and he appeared not to have been aware of the rail line ahead.

It appears that without adequate signage in the area there was a real vulnerability for any drivers to have strayed on to the railway line. It is not immediately clear whether this responsibility lay with the council or the rail company operating the line, however it seems evident that the precautions taken to protect road users were not of a high enough standard and that there should have been more thorough risk assessments when the new fence was erected to identify possible health and safety issues. With clearer signs and a more visible fence it seems more than likely that an incident such as this could have been avoided.