WATCH: Auckland Transport has shared chilling footage of a commuter who failed to look both ways before being missed by inches by an oncoming passenger train.
AT said on Tuesday the woman was crossing in front of a train at a pedestrian level crossing at Mount Eden station.
The authority said lights and warning bells were operating at the time, but the pedestrian only looked to her right before crossing, unaware of the oncoming train to her left.
The train driver applied the emergency brake and missed the pedestrian by inches.
“We’ve checked the footage of this morning’s incident and we can see the woman checked to her right before crossing but not to her left and that’s where the train was coming from,” Auckland Transport rail services manager Craig Inger said.
“It’s really important that you check both directions before crossing, a train can come from either direction.”
Inger said the lights and bells should signal to passengers not to cross at all.
“The lights and bells mean don’t cross,” he said.
“You can’t be using your phone or have earphones on because you might miss the warning lights or bells.”
TrackSAFE’s Megan Drayton said over 100 people have died in New Zealand on railway tracks in the last decade.
“Most railway deaths are preventable if people follow basic safety rules around tracks and trains,” Drayton said. “Trains are extremely fast and quiet, they can’t swerve to avoid a person or object on the tracks. The best the train driver can do is put on the emergency brakes and hope for the best.”
How about gates such as exist on most crossings in the Sydney region? THese make it all but impossible to cross when the bells are ringing.
How about people look both ways? That’s what you do when you cross the road.
Probably better to have a bridge or tunnel then there is no risk at all. Obviously this is costly but it could save a life