Car Ends Up On Tracks

in General Motorways Trains by AKT — August 25, 2011 at 5:25 am | 0 comments

Wellington Police are currently at a motor vehicle crash near Petone where a car has ended up on the railway tracks, delaying rail services.

Central Communications Centre Inspector Ken Climo says the incident occurred at around 4:15pm this afternoon when the sole male driver was heading south near the Petone overbridge.

“The driver has then attempted to change lanes but the vehicle has ended up on the railway tracks and is still currently there. The driver has minor injuries. State Highway Two southbound is also down to one lane and delays are expected.”

This is national rail safety week - and this morning there was a level crossing accident.
This morning’s crash was involving a train and a car on a level crossing on Waimotu Rd near Herbert 100ks north of Dunedin.
The car was extensively damaged, however the driver of the car, believed to be a male in his 50′s, escaped with minor injuries.
He has been transported to hospital as a precaution.
The crash site was on a secondary road.
There have been 16 vehicle collisions at public level crossings in the past twelve months with one fatality.

KiwiRail says reports from locomotive engineers show that there have been almost 150 near collisions in the past 12 months, with around 78 percent of those events occurring at crossings protected by automatic alarms.