Shock in the Vöcklabruck district: Take a train accident at the unrestricted level crossing!

Shock in the Vöcklabruck district: Take a train accident at the unrestricted level crossing!

Lehen, Österreich - on July 17, 2025, around 5:35 p.m., the local area of Lehet, Pühret municipality, district Vöcklabruck, occurred to a serious traffic accident with a regional train. A van collided with the train at the unrestricted level crossing after he came from Passauer Landesstraße towards Lehen. The collision caused the van to be thrown into an adjacent meadow via the embankment. The train driver of the train initiated an upcoming emergency braking, but the effects were already fatal. Two inmates of the van were injured, their injuries are indefinite.

The local rescue workers, including the Red Cross, took first aid and transported the injured to the clinic. Fortunately, the approximately 40 passengers of the regional train remained unharmed. During the incident, the Pühret fire brigade ensured that the travelers were supplied with mineral water and the passengers safely evacuated from the train using a rescue platform, as fireworld.at.

untrained level crossing as a danger point

The incident illustrates the risks of untrained level crossings, which, according to an analysis of the International Railway Association, make up 27% of all train accidents. In the event of fatal accidents, this number is alarming, because 98% of the fatal train accidents are done at such transitions. In this special case, the level crossing in Pühret was unlimited, which significantly increases the dangers for drivers and passengers, as tuev-nord-group.com emphasized.

Stefan Pöting, Head of the railway technology at TÜV Nord, emphasizes that many road users underestimate the long braking paths of trains. A local train needs up to 700 meters at a speed of 160 km/h to get to a standstill. This is a dangerous challenge, especially for heavy vehicles and drivers. Technical safety devices such as barriers and warning lights could significantly increase the safety at these transitions.

In addition to the technical aspects, the risk awareness of road users is also crucial. Pöting points out that frustration over long waiting times in front of closed barriers can affect the security awareness. Therefore, enlightenment is essential to avoid such tragic accidents. "Better to get to the goal too late than never arrived," said Pöting.

The incident in Pühret not only results in personal tragedies, but also raises the need for improvements in safety at level crossings. The awareness of these dangers remains a central task for the authorities and security experts.

Further information about similar incidents in Germany, where, for example, scooter drivers or post car drivers were at risk, show that such tragic accidents are not isolated cases.

The accident not only shakes the data subjects and their relatives, but also raises questions about safety at level crossings, a topic that through programs by the European Union to promote regional excursion destinations, such as meinzirk.at, focus on again.