Video: Drunken moped driver has lucky escape at level crossing

Photo: Silver Spoon via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Silver Spoon via Wikimedia Commons

A drunken moped driver had a luck escape at a level crossing in the town of Den Dolder earlier this week, when a train clipped the back of his vehicle as he drove across the tracks.

The driver ignored both the lights and the barriers warning him to stop and was hit by the train as he crossed the track. But he got up, apparently uninjured and picked up his moped.

The incident was captured on a security camera and shows how the man was centimetres from death.

According to local broadcaster RTV Utrecht, the man was drunk and arrested by police.

The Den Dolder level crossing has been described as the most dangerous in the country and railway infrastructure company ProRail has pledged to remove it.

The level crossing has already been closed to cars and plans are underway to place barriers which cross the entire road.

Last year the Dutch safety board slammed the ‘unacceptable’ way an average of 11 people are killed in accidents on railway level crossings every year.

It said the fragmented approach and lack of focus at the infrastructure ministry are stalling efforts to improve safety at crossings.

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