An 86-year-old woman lost her life this Tuesday at the end of the morning by committing to a level crossing in Saujonwhile the buzzer had sounded. The victim found himself trapped and his vehicle was hit and dragged for 200 meters by the TER which provided the connection between Royan and Saintes. The 18 passengers and two drivers of the train were taken care of by the SNCF. The gendarmes, in charge of the investigation, will have to determine the exact circumstances of this accident. At this stage of the investigation, the operation of the level crossing is not called into question. The opportunity to do an inventory of level crossings in Charente-Maritimeknowing that an action plan on their security was initiated in 2019 at the national level.
10 deaths in 10 years
To date, 202 level crossings are listed in the department. 191 road, eight pedestrian and three private crossings. A commission meets every end of the year in the prefecture under the aegis of state services (DTT) to establish a safety diagnosis and set priorities, in the presence of SNCF network and track managers (department, municipalities). Currently, a level crossing is currently being removed in the commune of Douhetnear Saintes. Several security projects are also committed to La Rochelle. A Châtelaillon-Plagepedestrian signaling is at the end of the experiment. New light signage has been installed at Asnières-la-Giraud (south of Saint-Jean-d'Angély), where a train hit a garbage truck in January 2023. The driver of the truck was seriously injured.
Over the last 10 years, SNCF network has identified 15 collisions with a vehicle or pedestrian in Charente-Maritime. With a very heavy human toll: 10 dead and one seriously injured. 68 collisions with equipment (mainly barriers) have also been reported since 2014, resulting in three injuries, including one serious.
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