Belgium gets a new road sign
Next week rail track operator Infrabel intends to equip nine level crossings across Flanders with the new road sign that warns drivers of the danger that traffic jams could arise and that the rail track could get blocked as a result.
Over half the accidents on level crossings are the result of drivers ignoring the traffic code. Many zigzag in between barriers or fail to stop at red. The new road sign is intended to address a different, but significant problem. Between 2014 and 2018 Infrabel noticed that a third of all accidents were the result of a lack of care by motorists. One of the problems is the willingness of drivers to cross onto a level crossing without any guarantee that they will be able to leave it promptly.
Sometimes traffic builds up because drivers don’t have the right of way on a roundabout or at traffic lights after the level crossing. Infrabel hopes the new road sign will impress upon drivers the need only to drive onto a level crossing if they are certain they can cross it entirely. At many of the level crossings where the present pilot project is being staged drivers have crashed through barriers in the past in a bid to get out of the way of approaching trains.
