Gran didn’t see lights at death crossing

THE GRANDMOTHER of a four-year-old girl who died in a collision at a level crossing didn’t see the flashing lights before she drove through the barriers and in front of a passenger train, an investigation has revealed.
Emma LifseyEmma Lifsey
Emma Lifsey

Emma Lifsey, four, suffered fatal injuries in the collision at Beech Hill level crossing in Misson Springs, near Finningley, Doncaster, last winter.

She died in hospital hours after the collision at the unmanned crossing on December 4 last year.

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A report from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) yesterday revealed that the red warning lights at the crossing, known as wig-wags, were “well below” the specified brightness.

A low sun at the time of the accident, and a damp road surface also contributed to glare, the report said.

The 67-year-old grandmother, who has not been named in the report, did not see that the lights were flashing as she approached.

She said she only noticed the lights and barriers at the automatic half-barrier crossing when she was very close to it, the RAIB said.

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The car containing the pensioner and her granddaughter was struck on the railway line between Gainsborough and Doncaster by a train operated by East Midlands Trains, which was travelling at 60mph.

The grandmother, who suffered neck injuries in the crash, was assisted from the wreckage by a local resident and a car driver who also carried Emma from the car to a house.

Emma, from nearby Haxey, was taken to a specialist unit at Sheffield Children’s Hospital by air ambulance but died from her injuries that night.

Witnesses said the car was braking as it went on to the crossing.

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Upon impact with the car, the train automatically braked and came to rest 479 metres up the track.

None of the 20 rail passengers and two crew onboard the Lincoln-bound train were hurt.

It is understood that the pensioner, who lives in nearby Bawtry, had been driving for 50 years and used the crossing twice a week.

Tests carried out at an optical laboratory by the RAIB found the barriers were fitted with 36 watt lamps and an “obsolete design” of a red lens unit.

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The report said: “Their light output was measured to be well below the specification for lights of this type.”

It added: ““Network Rail had no plans in place to replace the light units with brighter ones and had no process to identify that such replacement was necessary.”

The RAIB has recommended Network Rail replace all 36W lamps with LEDs and devise some way of assessing the risk of a bright background and glare preventing the wig-wags at level crossings being seen.

They said that a new, “brighter” type of LED light should be introduced at sites where sunlight glare is identified as a problem, and the inspection and maintenance for warning lamps should be enhanced.

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The report concludes: “The combination of the low horizon and raised viewpoint approaching the crossing made the barrier difficult to discern against the dark background near the horizon in the conditions that prevailed at the time.”

An Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) spokesman said yesterday: “Our thoughts are with Emma Lifsey’s family and all those involved in this tragic incident.”

He added that ORR inspectors were “investigating possible breaches of health and safety law” following the collision.

Figures from Network Rail show that in the year 2012/13 there were “nine accidental fatalities at level crossings, five of which were road vehicle occupants, three pedestrian fatalities, and one cyclist fatality.”

Following Emma’s death, her parents Mark and Zoe Lifsey released a statement saying: “Emma meant the world to us. She was our much-loved daughter and a baby sister to her 11-year-old brother Jack.”

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