Man killed in latest level crossing smash

<p>Level crossing safety is again under scrutiny after another fatality involving a vehicle and a train about 100 km southwest of Melbourne. </p> <p>A man died when his utility was crushed under the front of a passenger train at Buckley, near Geelong at 10.15 am yesterday (Sunday, November 12).</p> <p>The 67 passengers and two crewmembers on the train were not injured.</p> <p>The crossing did not have warning lights.</p> <p>It is the third crash at a level crossing in less than a month, after two separate incidents, one south of Darwin and another in southern New South Wales, derailed trains and delayed passenger and freight services.</p> <p>The incident near Darwin damaged several hundred metres of track after a southbound FreightLink train hiht the rear of a road train.</p> <p>A second incident in southern New South Wales saw an empty Graincorp train collide with an overturned truck at a level crossing, despite claims by the Australian Rail Track Corporation that several warnings were given to the train driver.</p> <p>The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the incident.</p> <p>Some in the rail industry believe that the incidents demonstrate a widespread disregard for level crossing safety by motorists, with fears of a repeat of an incident in May that killed a truck driver near Lismore in Victoria.</p> <p>In that incident a B-double hit the side of a Pacific National train at a level crossing 170 km southwest of Melbourne, derailing two locomotives and 44 wagons.</p> <br />