Pretoria - Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele is appealing to motorists to stop at railway level crossings as the chances of surviving a train crash are next to zero.
"The motion mechanics of a train do not allow it to swerve to avoid a motor vehicle and, given the weight of a train, the chances of a motorist surviving a crash with a train are next to zero.
"Motor vehicles are not built to withstand a lateral impact inflicted by a moving piece of metal called a train; airbags cannot save you, nothing can save you," he said at the unveiling of the road Safety Level Crossing Project in Rustenburg on Thursday.
Ndebele said almost all level crossing accidents were as a result of motorists failing to stop at clearly demarcated stop signs at level crossings.
"Trains take more time to stop, even when the driver applies brakes. A loaded train, engineers will tell you, can take more than a kilometre to stop," he said.
From April 2006 to March 2011, there were 636 level crossing incidents that resulted in 112 fatalities nationally.
Ndebele said they had noted that people involved in railway level crossing incidents were usually complacent when approaching crossings.
"On the other hand, the law requires motorists to bring a motor vehicle to a complete stop at a level crossing. There is no yielding, there is no slowing down. It is a complete stop," he explained.
Road Safety Level Crossing Campaign is just one of the many projects undertaken by government in response to the Decade of Action for Road Safety.
"Rail Level Crossings have reflected fatal statistics which point to a crisis and by their nature require drastic action, and the raising of the collective consciousness of the greatest number of people possible. We can no longer pretend that safety is a matter of business as usual," he said.
Today's launch, according to Ndebele, will be followed by a series of initiatives at level crossings across the country.
"We have piloted this project here in Rustenburg, in the North West province because of the high occurrence of level crossing accidents in this area," he said.
The minister said one of the objectives of the project includes the designated traffic officers promote law enforcement at level crossings where they are deployed and to ensure general law enforcement.
Following this launch, TFR will robustly engage communities in assisting with the eradication of tragic and unnecessary incidents by obeying all traffic laws governing rail level crossings at all times.
The project was unveiled in partnership with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and the North West provincial Department of Public Safety and Liaison.
In 2009, TFR and RTMC, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to be partners in enhancing safety at level crossings in the country.
Members of the public are encouraged to report bad driving or related behaviour to the National Traffic Call Centre on 0861 400 800.
