Re: A radical idea
  Matthew Geier

On 18/01/18 08:24, Robbie Smithzoqaeski@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

>The level crossing is interlocked with the pedestrian lights on

> the adjacent cycle path, and what's really amazing is that there are a

> large number of motorists who will stop if just the traffic light is at

> stop, but ignore both the traffic lights and the level crossing warning

> if both are active. It's beyond my comprehension,


It's the flashing lights I think. Car drivers are well conditioned to
stop on red lights, although many seem to think orange means 'pedal to
the metal'.
But put a pair of flashing red lights in front of them and it appears
the response is 'WTF' and as they have no clue, they keep going.

Just watching the way the traffic responds to the flashing lights on the
Princes Highway at Loftus gives me this impression - the number of
people I've seen slow approaching the flashing lights, see nothing in
front of them (not noticing the tram waiting on the side for the traffic
to stop) and speed up and drive right though. Often after our signaling
has given the tram the right-of-way at this point. It's obvious that
many drivers have NO IDEA AT ALL what a pair of flashing red lights means.


As we are stopped when all this is going on (we wait for a 'wall of
stopped cars protection), these light runners don't count as near misses
for ONRSR reporting - near misses are explicitly defined as needing to
use emergency brakes. As we stop and wait for the road traffic to comply
with the flashing lights, they don't count as near misses.

In Sydney with it's rare level crossings, it's almost understandable, I
think you can count with 1 hand the remaining level crossings in
Suburban Sydney, but with many more in Melbourne you would think drivers
would be more familiar with them and their operation properly covered in
driving schools.