Drivers dicing with death

Drivers continue to dice with death at rail crossings across the Great Southern, with a number of near-misses between trains and vehicles and drivers ignoring stop signals.

Brookfield Rail said there were about 11 incidents of vehicles or farm machinery colliding or nearly colliding with trains every year.

There were also many incidents of drivers running the gauntlet through rail crossings despite a train approaching.

Brookfield safety manager Adam Sidebottom said train drivers continued to be surprised at the dangerous risks people were willing to take to beat trains.

He said the risk was too great, given it could end in serious injury or death.

"More often than not, these tragedies are the unfortunate result of negligence and complacency," Mr Sidebottom said.

"We work hard to raise awareness of the importance of being safe around the railway, but members of the community have a part to play in keeping themselves safe. He said incidents at level crossings could easily be avoided if drivers were vigilant of their surroundings.

"We believe through working together as a community, we can reduce near misses and prevent tragic incidents from occurring on and around the railway tracks," Mr Sidebottom said.

"All we want is to see everyone arrive at their destination safely, and to do this we ask you to remember to look out for each other."