|
|
|
|
 |
B 2/2000 RPassenger train and ballast trailer lorry colliding at Kuivaniemi, on 6 July, 2000
On Thursday 6 July 2000 at 10.48 hours a level crossing accident occurred on the Oulu-Kemi section of line. A passenger train from Oulu via Kemi was heading to Rovaniemi when a collision with a trailer of a trailer lorry in full ballast load took place. That particular morning the driver of this trailer lorry and the other site drivers were carrying ballast to Olhava from a ballast crushing plant in the vicinity of Myllykangas level crossing. The ballast was intended for track building work. After 10.00 hours, the ballast carrying to Olhava was interrupted and ballast transportation to Kuivaniemi started. Myllykangas level crossing had to be crossed when driving either to Olhava or to Kuivaniemi. The driver in question set off with his seventh load of ballast from Myllykangas ballast crushing plant to Kuivaniemi. His maximum travelling speed on the road from the plant was 60 km/h but when running downhill towards the level crossing, he slowed down to about 14 km/h. According to the driver he then looked northwards on the railway line and then southwards without perceiving a train. He accelerated to cross the railway, and when the front part of the lorry was on the track he heard the sound of a locomotive whistle through the open window. The driver quickly glanced to the left and saw an approaching train. He thought it would be best to accelerate and try to cross the line before the arrival of the train. The lorry itself in fact succeeded to cross the railway but the nose of the locomotive crashed into the front axle of the trailer. At the time of the collision the speed of the train was 120 km/h. In the collision a considerable amount of ballast from the trailer penetrated through the windows into the first coach of the train. The cartridge pallet and the frame of the trailer detached, whereupon the front part of the trailer frame thrust into the second coach of the train. The end of the frame member hit a 17 year old male passenger seated by the window with his back in the running direction. The passenger died instantly. Furthermore in the accident one passenger was seriously injured and nine persons were less seriously injured. The injuries were mainly caused by ballast rocks and pieces of window glass hitting the passengers. In addition to these personal injuries about 450 m of track was damaged, the trailer was wrecked and the locomotive and coaches of the train were damaged. The direct costs generated by the accident amounted to about FIM 4 million. The accident was caused by the driver of the trailer lorry approaching the level crossing at too high a speed. As a result the driver failed to perform an appropriate careful viewing, and he would not have been able to come to a full stop before the track. The too high speed was probably a consequence of the driver having just before agreed on meeting a colleague of his. In reality he was in no hurry at all, but nevertheless this might have caused him to start making plans for the immediate future and thus contribute to his unwillingness to slow down. In order to prevent corresponding accidents in the future, the Accident Investigation Board of Finland reiterates its earlier recommendation that 8 meter visual clearances be regularly secured at unguarded level crossings. The Accident Investigation Board underscores that such visual clearances should be adopted and realized at all unguarded level crossings. The party responsible for track maintenance should also be responsible for the realization of these visual clearances. Furthermore the Accident Investigation Board recommends that when planning heavy-duty contract work for trailer lorries, including numerous railway crossings, joint discussions on relevant safety issues should be engaged by the persons responsible for the train traffic operation and those responsible for the heavy-duty trucking contract. In this connection any requisite safety measures should be agreed on. In view of a development of rescue operations, the Accident Investigation Board recommends that forward-balanced tactics be adopted in the resources utilization, in conformity with directives by the Ministry of the Interior. The Accident Investigation Board also recommends that information communication to relatives of the victims be developed and an Information Centre for Relatives be created for this particular purpose. Immediately upon an accident, the Information Centre should publish its service telephone number. Then centralized systematic information services could be supplied, e.g., for the relatives of the victims in an accident. In order to improve the safety of trailer lorry drivers and any other parties, the Accident Investigation Board recommends that a more efficient monitoring of the observance of the driving shift and rest interval regulations be put into place. To facilitate both this monitoring and the accident investigation work, the plotter recording system should be replaced by a more up-to-date running recorder yet to be designed.
|
