Let’s go to Great Britain now: 6452 level crossings
Britain is a multicultural society with its population observing many different faiths or none. Although nominally a Christian country it is often said that the main religion is consumerism and peoples’ main hobby is shopping. Over the past two or three years much of this activity has transferred to the Internet so that, especially at Christmas, Santa Claus and his reindeer have been replaced by lots of small white vans which are designed to call when the ‘shopper’ is out at work. And of course we must not forget those out of work or in low paid jobs for whom shopping is a luxury or quite impossible. Another aspect of Christmas is the need for people to go travelling. There are two types – travelling to stay with friends and relations; or travelling (often to warm or snowy places) to avoid the friends and relations. It’s good business for the roads, railways and airlines. Really smart people stay at home and keep out of sight, watching TV or playing computer games and complaining that its ‘not like the old days’.

As far as safety issues are concerned and particular at level crossings.U.K. is one of the most active players in the world and is often taken as a model for other countries.

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) http://www.rssb.co.uk, Network Rail http://www.networkrail.co.uk/, ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/ and BTP (British Transport Police) http://www.btp.police.uk/ have been organising awareness campaigns at level crossings for many years now and have joined the ILCAD campaign from the very beginning. In addition to improving engineering and making awareness campaigns they also work a lot on enforcement measures with the cooperation of the BTP (British Transport Police). BTP operate enforcement vans equipped with 9 cameras to film and make photographs of offenders at level crossings. When the photo is taken, the plate, the owner’s name and the insurance are immediately  checked. The fine is sent to the offender’s address within 48 hours and some points are taken out from the driving licence and sometimes when the case is more serious the offender is brought to court.

During the awareness campaign, they organise press conferences with national and local televisions, written media, radios in different places of the country.

VAN OF BTP POSTED AT A LEVEL CROSSING

Have a nice week end ! see you tomorrow !