What makes a railway crossing so dangerous is the fact that the trains are unable to swerve (and can have a braking distance of 1 km) while being much larger than a car and driving at a much greater speed (they can easily crush the entire car). This means that you as the driver of the car have nearly all the responsibility.
The white lights are there to make the railway crossing easier to detect.
If the engine stalls on the track, you must move the car immediately. If the engine will start, you can just keep driving. The gates are made from a thin material that you can drive through.
If the car does not start, try this:
If you are unable to move the car, call 112 to inform them of the situation.
Wait until the traffic ahead clears up. If you enter the railway crossing now, you may be forced to stop on the tracks!
Overtaking in conjunction with a railway crossing is prohibited, except where one (or both) of the following exist:
The prohibition does not apply when overtaking two-wheeled vehicles.
Gates | Signal (red, amber, green) | Allowed to overtake |
Yes | Yes | All vehicles |
Yes | No | All vehicles |
No | Yes | All vehicles |
No | No | Two-wheeled vehicles only |
This type of signal device is enough to cancel out the overtaking prohibition, as it is a red, amber and green traffic signal.
This type of signal device is not enough to cancel out the overtaking prohibition, as it is the regular signal that is posted at nearly every railway crossing.
Just because it is permitted to overtake in conjunction with certain railway crossings, it does not make it appropriate.
You should therefore think twice about whether it is really necessary to overtake at the railway crossing specifically.
The gates are often opened before the lights stop flashing. Note however that you may not drive on before the lights stop flashing red.
1: Furthest distance, i.e. the first sign you see.
3: Shortest distance, i.e. the last sign you see.
Last updated 2022-02-25.