Collisions between cars and trains often happen because the driver has made a mistake

Collision with car — The majority of collisions occur because the driver of the car has made a mistake (didn’t look or failed to see the train) or because they thought they could beat the train over the crossing. (photo credit: Manawatu Standard)

In data collected between 1990 and 2012 from the NZ Transport Agency’s Crash Analysis System (CAS) relating to all collisions between motor vehicles and trains at a level crossing:

around two thirds of the crashes involved cars or station wagons
approximately 15 per cent involved vans or utes, and 8 per cent were trucks
73 per cent of drivers involved in fatal and injury crashes held full drivers’ licences
of these drivers, around 72 per cent were male
the highest represented group in level crossing collisions is men aged between 40-59
women aged over 60 are the least likely group to be involved in a level crossing collision

Interesting facts:

most collisions occur during daylight hours and in fine weather
collisions at night often occur when motorists drive into the side of a train
a significant number of collisions occur within a close proximity of a person’s home
around 11 per cent of all collisions happen at crossings with barrier arms