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More Stupidity Taking Photos - This time at a Footpath Crossing at Tidemills, East Sussex

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Stathern Jc

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Another case of stupidity in taking photos at a footpath crossing a line has appeared on the BBC News website this morning.
I doesn't seem long ago that we saw a report of someone taking wedding photos at a level crossing.

This is something different:


1611319157199.png

Full Report at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-55764693
A woman has been caught on CCTV lying on a level crossing to pose for a photograph, prompting a warning from rail bosses.

Network Rail said it was the 17th incident recorded on the crossing, at Tidemills, East Sussex, in the last nine months.

Fifteen of those incidents involved near misses with trains, compared to three in 2019.
 
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timj

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electrified as well, surprised they didn't make a thing of that although the crossing has a gap in the 3rd rail
 

zwk500

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It's between Newhaven and Seaford on the East sussex coast, on a dead-end branch. Anybody local will probably know that the train goes to Seaford and waits for a while before coming back, so assumes its safe. It doesn't excuse it, and I hope the BTP are able to identify these women and fine them, as this crossing regularly has incidents and near-misses. They seem to be making a joke of lying across the tracks, I can only imagine what a Driver would have said to them if they'd seen them.

Between this and the Car TikTok in Bolton, I'm not sure which is the more stupid
electrified as well, surprised they didn't make a thing of that although the crossing has a gap in the 3rd rail
the 70mph is going to be the more pertinent risk than the 3rd rail, as the rail doesn't move. You don't get much warning and all it takes is a slip on a wet rail (this is a salt marsh about 150m from the sea) as she's getting up and it's too late for anybody on the train or ground to do anything.
 

SussexMan

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There are already proposals for a bridge here.

The footbridge and approach walkways will replace a pedestrian level crossing near the site of the lost village of Tide Mills, East Sussex, allowing safe access to Seaford Beach.

The landscape surrounding the proposed bridge site is largely flat, with far-reaching views across the open floodplain as well as allowing the footbridge to be widely visible. Sloped earth embankments, used for the lower portion of the ramped walkway, have been put in the designs to appear as a natural extension of the landscape, minimising the visible elements of the new structure.


Not everyone is happy about the size of it in that landscape.
 
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eMeS

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As long as almost every train related documentary shows shots of the train travelling over the camera, what do you expect?
 

Egg Centric

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To those like me who's initial reaction was "oh, more ridiculous pearl clutching from those who think trespassing on railways in the UK is somehow uniquely dangerous by international standards" - here's the view the other way (I thought I should check it out before mildly, yet futilely, scolding the other thread participants) - yes this does seem bloody dangerous, wtff?
 

mwmbwls

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There are already proposals for a bridge here.


Not everyone is happy about the size of it in that landscape.
Langridge_Nethercot2019.pdf (iabse.org.uk) Some people are never satisfied - Network Rail are considering a highly tailored (and expensive) solution to blend in as far as possible with the landscape given that traditional footbridges now have to cater for not only for able bodied people but also the less able and cyclists. The alternatives would be to close the railway or close the crossing - neither option being acceptable.
Given the coverage that we have seen I do hope that we see BTP moving swiftly to a prosecution.
 

richa2002

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Or perhaps a crossing that has been there for 100+ years can simply continue like that for another 100+ years? The modern day safety culture is truly toxic and totally out of proportion.
 

Colin1501

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Or perhaps a crossing that has been there for 100+ years can simply continue like that for another 100+ years? The modern day safety culture is truly toxic and totally out of proportion.
Quite so. We do seem to exercise huge double standards to safety standards as applied to rail and road. I don't see any calls for every stretch of road in the UK to be fenced, with pedestrians only allowed to cross at footbridges or light-controlled crossing points, yet I suspect far more people are run down by road vehicles than by trains. Footpath crossings on railways, like much else in life, are perfectly safe if used sensibly.
 

island

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What precisely would they get prosecuted for? It's a public crossing, so I don't think they are committing trespass.
Yes they are committing trespass on the railway. They have permission to cross it, not to stay on it.
 

Ianno87

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Or perhaps a crossing that has been there for 100+ years can simply continue like that for another 100+ years? The modern day safety culture is truly toxic and totally out of proportion.

I'm guessing you've never had the job of clearing up the mess when stunts like this go wrong...
 

flitwickbeds

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Quite so. We do seem to exercise huge double standards to safety standards as applied to rail and road. I don't see any calls for every stretch of road in the UK to be fenced, with pedestrians only allowed to cross at footbridges or light-controlled crossing points, yet I suspect far more people are run down by road vehicles than by trains. Footpath crossings on railways, like much else in life, are perfectly safe if used sensibly.
Road drivers can stop or swerve out of the way of a pedestrian. Not possible with trains, especially high speed ones.

Also presumably the family of a pedestrian killed on, say, a zebra crossing could sue the driver of the car that hit them after failing to stop. Do we want train drivers or Network Rail to face the same potential court action? I say no, and nor do they, so they do everything possible to avoid an incident in the first place and, where an incident does occur, make it inevitable that the only person to blame is the one who caused it in the first place.
 

Nottingham59

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when stunts like this go wrong
Have there been any actual instances of stunts like this going wrong? Accidents and carelessness and misjudgements, sure; people intentionally putting themselves in harm's way, sadly too many of these; track workers who didn't see the train coming, these too. But deaths caused by stunts that went wrong? I don't remember any RAIB reports like that, and I'm sure I would have seen any.
 

Robertj21a

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While I share the concern over how stupid people can be I'm not really convinced that there is any major risk in this instance.
 

bramling

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I'm guessing you've never had the job of clearing up the mess when stunts like this go wrong...

How often do such stunts go wrong? Struggling to think of any high-profile ones TBH.

Sure the potential is there, especially if someone makes an elementary error like assumes there will be no train because that's what the timetable says, but it doesn't seem to happen in practice (fortunately).
 

Islineclear3_1

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Tide Mills, know it well

A regular tourist spot for the ancient Tide Mills and Newhaven beach. Well used by tourists and locals alike

Trains hurtle through towards Seaford at 70mph

I've even advised people not to cross when I see a train starting out from Bishopstone and be accosted by foul mouthed abuse

Words fail me on this one...
 

bramling

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Tide Mills, know it well

A regular tourist spot for the ancient Tide Mills and Newhaven beach. Well used by tourists and locals alike

Trains hurtle through towards Seaford at 70mph

I've even advised people not to cross when I see a train starting out from Bishopstone and be accosted by foul mouthed abuse

Words fail me on this one...

Must admit I’m surprised this one hasn’t been converted to a CCTV crossing.

There’s a nasty one south of Walmer, where I happened to witness a near miss first-hand. Usual scenario of a UWC, car pulls onto crossing having only opened the entry gate, passenger then gets out to open the exit gate with the car standing over the crossing... just as 8Vep appears and the car manages to get out the way with seconds to spare.
 

Llanigraham

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Tidemills Crossing is a public footpath. There is loads of case law that contradicts that position.

In many areas, if you study the actual RoW legislation, sometimes going back as far as the Enabling Acts for the railway, you will find that the RoW stops at the railway boundary and then restarts at the boundary opposite, so that the bit across the railway property is NOT an RoW, but a Permissive Path.
 

Llanigraham

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Have there been any actual instances of stunts like this going wrong? Accidents and carelessness and misjudgements, sure; people intentionally putting themselves in harm's way, sadly too many of these; track workers who didn't see the train coming, these too. But deaths caused by stunts that went wrong? I don't remember any RAIB reports like that, and I'm sure I would have seen any
Try the old lady whose car was destroyed early one Sunday morning near Harlech. She started to cross the line without ringing the controlling Box because "trains don't run on Sunday mornings here" as she thought, and was then hit by a Tamper.
 

PG

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Have there been any actual instances of stunts like this going wrong? Accidents and carelessness and misjudgements, sure; people intentionally putting themselves in harm's way, sadly too many of these; track workers who didn't see the train coming, these too. But deaths caused by stunts that went wrong? I don't remember any RAIB reports like that, and I'm sure I would have seen any.
The news report linked to in the OP mentions 15 near misses in the last 9 months. Only takes a slightly different turn of events for any one of those 15 to have been a fatality.
 

Nottingham59

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15 near misses in the last 9 months
Given they only had three the year before, I imagine that statistic is due to the fact that NR have installed video surveillance on the crossing (and from the look of it, quite recently too). And I bet most of those involved vehicle traffic and not opening gates in the right sequence. That is far more of a danger at level crossings than kids taking a few seconds to take a photo when there is at least 500m of good visibility in each direction.

old lady whose car was destroyed early one Sunday morning
That's not a stunt that went wrong. The risk of death from mis-understandings and accidents is much greater than from "stunts", which is the point I was trying to make.
 

JohnMcL7

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How often do such stunts go wrong? Struggling to think of any high-profile ones TBH.

Sure the potential is there, especially if someone makes an elementary error like assumes there will be no train because that's what the timetable says, but it doesn't seem to happen in practice (fortunately).

This one comes to mind:


There's a surprising number of results for teenager killed on level crossing although many are missing the circumstances.
 

A0wen

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I'm increasingly convinced there's a business opportunity here for some heritage railways - build a siding with a level crossing on and charge people who want to pose / park a car or whatever else on it whilst they take their selfie....
 

dgl

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I'm increasingly convinced there's a business opportunity here for some heritage railways - build a siding with a level crossing on and charge people who want to pose / park a car or whatever else on it whilst they take their selfie....
I suppose the issue with that is someone will see somebody doing said action where it is safe to do so and they have permission, not read the bit where it says that it was a managed shot, they had permission and it was safe for them to do it. They will then believe that such a stunt is safe anywhere with the expected consequences.
 

Nottingham59

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Yeah, the Night Train that didn't whistle was the one I know that was closest. Very sad, but the girls weren't doing it to show off. So not really a stunt like the topic of this thread.
 
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