Pavilly english summary

On Thursday 11 April 2019, at 9.15 pm, the regional express train (TER) no. 3133 coming from Paris and bound for Le Havre, collided with a light vehicle on level crossing (LC) no. 48 in the commune of Pavilly. This LC, which has been included in the national safety program since 1er January 2017, is equipped with automatic light and sound signals with four half-barriers.
The TER, which was travelling at 122 km/h at the time of the collision, did not derail or overturn. Of the 152 people on board, one was slightly injured. Both occupants of the road vehicle were in the vehicle at the time of the collision. The 50-year-old female driver and the 17-year-old female passenger were seriously injured.

In the absence of operating data for both the equipment of the LC and the light vehicle, the BEA-TT favours the scenario of the vehicle entering the LC at the moment of its activation in the context of normal operation of the installations, and crossing it at very low speed.
The driver’s lack of reaction once on the LC and until she stopped in front of the half-barriers on the Pavilly side suggests that she probably did not perceive the ringing of the bell.

The BEA-TT’s analysis of the circumstances and the testimonies of this accident did not allow it to issue any specific recommendation.
However, the BEA-TT recalls the recommendation issued in the context of the Millas accident and relating to the reception of the bell on board vehicles and stresses that a new sign has been put in place on the rails of the SAL4 type level crossings indicating that the barriers are breakable.

The BEA-TT also invites SNCF Réseau to include a message concerning the speed conditions of road vehicles when a road user crosses a level crossing in a future national awareness campaign on level crossing safety. It invites the Seine-Maritime departmental council ‑to initiate an ad hoc experimentation procedure associated with the installation of painted checkerboards on the ground upstream of railway tracks.