Prague, Dec 1 (CTK) – Sixty percent of drivers violated the rules of the road at Czech level crossings and most drivers killed by a passing train were locals who knew the crossing well and did not respect it despite the red flashing light, road safety expert Roman Budsky said on Thursday.
“In many cases, the victims are people who live close to the level crossing and often drive through it and who lose respect to it,” he told a conference on safety at level crossings.
Nearly all level crossing accidents, 98 percent, are caused by a lack of discipline on the part of drivers and pedestrians.
Drivers mostly do not respect the warning signals and they enter the crossing in spite of the ban.
Budsky said the Czech Republic is the European country with the number of people who commit suicide by train per capita.
The total number of railway suicides is higher only in Britain, France and Germany that have much higher populations than the Czech Republic.
Last year, 234 people died in Czech railway accidents, including more than 200 people who deliberately jumped under a train.
In 2014, 2895 people died in European railway accidents and 73 percent of the victims were people who committed suicide.
