Police are targeting risky driver behaviour at level crossings in support of a campaign in parts of the state's Central Tablelands.
Between Monday (2 December 2019) to Friday (13 December 2019) police from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command will be increasing police patrols at level crossings in the central tablelands.
This is part of an ongoing series of awareness and enforcement campaigns relating to level crossings - a joint initiative between the NSW Police Force and the NSW Centre for Road Safety at Transport for NSW.
During the campaign, police will be on the look-out for motorists disobeying level crossing flashing lights and stop signs, vehicles queuing over the railway tracks, speeding near level crossings and drivers who are distracted by illegal use of mobile phones.
Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy of Traffic and Highway Patrol Command said that despite the high consequences, people are still ignoring warnings at level crossings.
"Police issued almost 1000 penalty notices for level crossing traffic offences in the past two years," he said
"The types of level crossings in the Bathurst area are typical of those throughout the state where non-compliance occurs. Disobeying level crossing warning lights and signs can then lead to crashes between vehicles and trains where the consequences are high."
"This is why we need to continue running these localised campaigns and reinforce our Train to Stop message to motorists at level crossings."
Through the road safety campaign Towards Zero, the NSW Government is working hard to drive the road toll down by highlighting there is no acceptable number when it comes to deaths on NSW roads.
"Between July 2008 and June 2019 there were 72 collisions between trains and cars at level crossings, resulting in eight fatalities. All of which could have been easily avoided," Assistant Commissioner Corboy said.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads and Member for Bathurst, Paul Toole, said there is no excuse for putting yours and the lives of others on the line at level crossings.
"Trains can travel at speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour and can take up to one and half kilometres to come to a stop at a level crossing," he said.
Residents living in nearby areas were informed of the enforcement period through letterbox drops. Electronic billboards are now in the areas reminding motorists to take care at level crossings. The penalty for disobeying controls is three demerit points and a $457 fine.
