SAFER-LC project: Safer Level Crossings by integrating and optimizing road-rail infrastructure management and design

Level Crossings represent vulnerable points in the European land transport system, since collisions at level crossings account for a high number of fatalities and serious injuries among road users and lead to major disruptions of railway operations. This paper presents part of the ongoing work conducted in the SAFER-LC EU project, namely an overview of indicators for level crossing safety solutions, taking into account the road and rail users’ perspective. The paper identifies key safety criteria concerning the requirements coming from various types of level crossing users. The analysis focuses on human errors, attentional processes and risk perception, while paying special attention to vulnerable users such as pedestrians. The results are discussed in the context of a Human Factors methodological framework which analyses how technological and non-technological safety measures can be better adapted from a user perspective to make level crossings more self-explanatory and ‘forgiving’. The implications for the implementation and evaluation of ‘user-friendly’ safety measures at level-crossings are also discussed.