ZSR Organises Simulated Colllision of Trains and Car

Bratislava, June 8 (TASR) – The state-run rail infrastructure owner Zeleznice Slovenskej Republiky (ZSR) organised a simulated collision of train engines with a passenger car at a railroad crossing in Bratislava’s borough of Raca on Thursday.

For the collision, a set of two engines weighing about 174 tonnes crashed at a speed of 40 km/h into a Fiat Brava SX that sat on the railroad crossing. The train pushed the car along the rails for several dozens of metres and seriously damaged it.

“We’ve seen that this collision happened at the speed of 40 km/h and, in my opinion, if somebody had been sitting in the car, they would not have survived it. This is just the threat, we are reminding drivers of it this way so they won’t put their lives or the lives of other people sitting in these cars at risk,” said Transport and Construction Minister Arpad Ersek (Most-Hid).

Through preventive actions like this, ZSR is striving to urge drivers, cyclists and other road traffic participants to be more careful and attentive while crossing railroads.
The demonstration was being held as part of the International Level Crossing Awareness Day, in which over 40 countries worldwide are participating.

According to statistics, 38 accidents happened at Slovak level crossings last year, while the figure was as high as 55 in 2015. The police have already registered 25 accidents at level crossings so far this year. Two people died in them this year, while the number of fatalities was six last year and it was 14 in 2015.

ZSR claims there are over 2,000 level crossings in Slovakia. It brings attention to the fact that a train’s braking distance can be 1,000 metres, depending on its weight and speed and it is thus impossible for it to stop at the crossing in time.

In line with valid regulations, a driver is obliged to stop 50 metres away from level crossings and drive with a maximum speed of 30 km/h while crossing them.