Snow chaos in Upper Franconia: In the accident at unsecured level crossing!

On January 3, 2025, a traffic accident occurred in Selb, district of Wunsiedel, Upper Franconia, when a 74-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle on Schneeglatter. The driver approached an unrestricted level crossing and noticed an approaching regional express. Despite his attempt to brake, the car continued and there was a minimal touch between the vehicle and the train. Fortunately, no one was injured in this incident.

After the collision, the train stopped and was examined by an emergency manager from the train. After the review, the train was able to continue its journey after the railroad tracks were briefly blocked, such as Merkur reported.

accidents at level crossings

accidents at level crossings are rare in German road traffic, but often serious. In 2016, a total of 995 accidents on rail crossings in Germany were registered with personal injury, with 46 people killed and 1,367 injuries were complained about. Around 30-40% of all accidents with personal damage to rail traffic on level crossings, with approximately 30% of these accidents occur on non-technically secured systems.

level crossings are marked in Germany with a St. Andrew's cross and the backup is carried out according to the railway construction and operating regulations. Such transitions should be technically secured in order to increase security. Recommendations for improvement are the use of red light monitoring systems and the structural separation of the lanes, such as "https://www.dvr.de/politik/chluesse/icherheit-an-bahnuebergen-von-eisenbahnen-erhoehen" Class = "Source_2"> DVR explained.