EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE FATALITIES AT ROAD-RAIL CROSSINGS IN VICTORIA BETWEEN 1969 AND 1974 OCCURRED EITHER AT CROSSINGS PROTECTED BY FLASHING LIGHTS IN MAJOR URBAN AREAS, OR AT "OPEN" CROSSINGS (I.E. PROTECTED ONLY BY SIGNS AND WITH NO FORM OF ACTIVE DEVICE) IN RURAL AREAS. THIS PAPER IS PRINCIPALLY DEVOTED TO AN EXAMINATION OF THE (DIFFERENT) HUMAN FACTORS THOUGHT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH ACCIDENTS AT THESE TWO TYPES OF CROSSING. IN THE FIRST CATEGORY, THE STIMULUS AFFORDED BY TWIN ALTERNATING FLASHING LIGHTS IS DEEMED INADEQUATE FOR MANY ROAD VEHICLE DRIVERS, ALREADY OVERLOADED BY THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE MAJOR URBAN ROAD TRAFFIC SYSTEMS. IN THE SECOND CATEGORY, THE ABSENCE OF ADVANCE WARNING SIGNS ON ONE OR MORE APPROACH ROADS TO THE MAJORITY OF CROSSINGS SURVEYED IN A RURAL FIELD STUDY IS THOUGHT SIGNIFICANT. MOREOVER, AT CROSSINGS WHERE ADVANCE WARNING SIGNS ARE PROVIDED, THE ONE MOST FREQUENTLY IN USE (THE RAILWAY CROSSING WARNING ASSEMBLY) IS DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE AS IT PERMITS AMBIGUOUS INTERPRETATION AND DOES NOT STIMULATE THE DESIRED RESPONSE.(Author/publisher).
Samenvatting