Motorists continue to dice with death at Shropshire's level crossings
Motorists and pedestrians are continuing to dice with death at level crossings, taking their chances against trains and closing barriers.
British Transport Police today said the problem is continuing, despite years of issuing warnings.
Officers this week issued a fresh campaign, sending officers to some of the county's most notorious level crossings in a bid to clamp down on misuse and abuse.
And according to Sergeant Karl Anderson, things are slowly improving.
It could have been the end of the line for this risk-taking motorist – but he's not the only one to gamble with his life on a level crossing.
This van was just seconds from colliding with a train on the crossing at Bucknell Station in March last year.
The train driver was forced to make an emergency stop when white van driver 43-year-old Steven Austin came within just feet of the tracks.
Austin, from Derby, who worked as a delivery driver for a furniture company, was banned from the road for dangerous driving after putting both himself and a train full of passengers in serious danger.
He was travelling from Craven Arms towards Bucknell when he came around the bend on the wrong side of the road and stopped close to the rail track, forcing the train to pull up sharply.
At the time, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that Austin denied a charge of dangerous driving.
But Arriva train driver Robert Teare said he saw the van approaching to his right and made an emergency stop to avoid a possible collision.
He said he sounded the horn, saw the van reverse back slightly, before driving across in front of the train.
And his close shave is not the only near miss – there have been countless times police have been called to level crossings after drivers and pedestrians avoided tragedy by just seconds.
At a farm crossing near Buttington Hall in Buttington, near Welshpool, a tractor and trailer crashed with a train carrying 140 passengers in July 2013.
The tractor driver and two passengers were lucky to walk away having only suffered minor injuries in the collision, but significant damage was done to the front of the train.
It is not only motorists taking their chances at crossings.
In 2011, two people climbed over the barriers at Wem level crossing before racing across the tracks and boarding the next train to Shrewsbury.
In another incident, two men tempted fate when they repeatedly crossed the lines at Craven Arms railway station in September last year.
The men had "foolishly" been running in front of a train travelling at high speed through the station, forcing the train driver to hit the emergency brakes.
At the time, British Transport Police Constable Dave Hall, investigating officer, said the men were "foolish in the extreme" and that the took an "enormous risk", putting themselves in serious danger.
The level crossing in Wem, on Aston Street has built a reputation for its barriers closing for long periods of time since it became automated in October 2013, regularly causing tailback traffic.
Caused by a signal fault, the problems have sparked safety concerns and local people say it tempts motorists and pedestrians to ignore warning signs in a bid to beat the traffic.
Sergeant Anderson, who has been at Wem's crossing this week, said: "We do have some very busy level crossings in Shropshire. But over the last 12 months we have seen figures of misuse coming down.
"People are more aware now about the safety, and they know not to get themselves trapped on the level crossings.
"But with the crossings becoming automated a lot more now we have to encourage people to take extra care.
"Previously there was a signal man there so when the warning lights flashed and the barrier came down there would be a set of eyes – there isn't that set of eyes anymore."
Shocking images at Wem level crossing shows motorists ignoring the warning signs and narrowly avoiding the closing barriers as they race across tracks.
Others dating back several years show a car overtaking another driver on the crossing, while flashing lights warn of an approaching train.
Between April 2011 and September 2014 officers dealt with nine cases of careless driving and 16 cases of failure to obey road traffic signs at Wem level crossing.
BTP was been called to a further 14 incidents at the crossing during the period, which range from reports of trespass to a report of an assault.
But Sergeant Anderson said: "We have been aware that there has been frustration about the Wem level crossing, and the amount of time the barriers are down for.
"But thankfully we haven't noticed an increase in people darting over the tracks as a result of this. When there was a signal man there it might have been that he could let some more cars through, and there isn't that now.
"But with automated crossings, we have noticed behaviour has improved over the last 12 months in Shropshire.
"The Wem level crossing has got quite a history of people misusing it and prosecutions, but we have been promoting safety there and ensuring people know how to use them correctly."
Sergeant Anderson said: "We are seeing the numbers come down. A lot of those recorded will be simple motoring offences like stopping in the box junctions.
"That then brings everything to a halt and it is making people aware of that.We also find people following a car onto the crossing too closely before checking they can get to the other side safely – the lights begin to flash, the barriers come down and they are trapped.
"But driving behaviour is improving a lot in the area.I take my hat off to drivers because they really are improving."
In its report for 2014, Network Rail said the risks associated with level crossings reduced by 10.49 per cent and it had closed more than 900 level crossings in the past five years.
He added: "We have also been in Harlescott, Shrewsbury as there are a number of cars that use the crossing and we have been stationed there many times over the past 12 months.
"And in Bromfields, near Ludlow the level crossing is relatively quiet but it is near the racecourse and it does get very busy on race days.
"We have been at those crossings trying to monitor motorists and educate people about the safety issues."
Shocking: Watch these examples captured by CCTV around Britain:
