Police to blitz rail crossings

By Melissa Grant
POLICE are clamping down on motorists racing boom gates at level crossings in the Pakenham area.
Officers are taking a zero tolerance approach and say they will come down hard on those rolling the dice at crossings in the district.
Senior Sergeant Trevor Teer said residents who put themselves at risk would be caught.
“The TMU (Cardinia Traffic Management Unit) and the uniform police are keeping a close eye on our rail crossings,” he said.
Leading Senior Constable Colin Davies from Cardinia TMU said the crack-down was part of a state-wide plan to reduce the number of people injured or killed at railway crossings.
“People have to realise that a train won’t stop,” he said.
Last month the Brumby Government increased traffic fines for level crossing offences from $182 and three demerit points to $551 and four demerit points.
The new penalties apply to level crossing offences including failing to stop at a level crossing with a stop sign; failing to give way at a level crossing with a give way sign; or entering a level crossing when a train is approaching, the boom gate is closing, warning lights are operating, or when the road beyond the level crossing is blocked.
Motorists speeding to beat a train, weaving in between boom gates and crossing tracks when lights and bells are operating can expect to be hit harder. These offences can attract fines of $3304 and result in the loss of four demerits points and an automatic three month licence suspension.
Sen Sgt Teer said while few motorists took risks in the centre of town, a worrying number were flirting with disaster at railway crossings on the outskirts of Pakenham and Officer.
“On Cardinia Road they have a look both ways and they think it’s safe to sneak through,” he said.
In 2006, a truck transporting crushed rock crashed through a boom gate at the Cardinia Road intersection and collided with a Melbourne-bound train.
Although the front of the truck was almost completely destroyed, nobody was injured as a result of the accident.
Police said at the time that a potential catastrophe was averted only by seconds.
Sen Sgt Teer urged motorists not to race trains and to remain stationary until the boom gates were fully up.
“It’s a really dangerous practice and it’s not worth the risk,” he said.
“It’s not their lives they’re putting at risk but also those on the train.”