Expert Witness for incident at a level crossing

Requirements

The Solicitor acting for the Defendant instructed CIL to examine the papers and submit a report commenting on the general operation of the level crossing and the Defendant's statement.

Our Role

At the time of the incident, the Defendant was employed as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. The Defendant stated that when driving over a London railway level crossing, the rear of his vehicle contacted the lowering crossing barrier. CCTV footage clearly shows the incident; the barrier was bent and displaced over the track. The footage shows a car driver following the Defendant who stopped safely beyond the crossing and exited their vehicle. The car driver then returned to the crossing and pulled the level crossing barrier from the railway lines, thus avoiding a potential accident. The incident caused severe delays to the railway and the level crossing equipment was severely damaged.

Technical Challenges

The main research challenge was determining the lorry's speed at the time of the incident and understanding the sequence and timings of the level crossing's warning lights. John Freeman applied to the Rail Regulator for the level crossing's technical specifications regarding warning light timings; John verified and witnessed these on site. Specifically, the time from the amber light activation to the first movement of the left-hand barrier is a minimum of 7 seconds. John was then able to calculate the offending lorry's speed and progress from the CCTV footage and concluded that the driver entered the yellow hatched area after the warning light was showing.

Outcome

Although the report was commissioned on behalf of the defence John concluded that the Defendant was at fault. The report was shown to the Defendant who then changed his plea to guilty.