Three people were killed at level crossings in South Australia last financial year and there were more than 50 near-misses involving pedestrians.

The $3 million campaign to upgrade crossings and discourage irresponsible behaviour is part of National Rail Safety Week.

Road Safety Minister Jack Snelling says driver inattention, distraction and risk-taking are the most common contributors to collisions at level crossings.

“I know what it’s like on a hot Adelaide summer’s day with a carload of kids to be caught at a train crossing, but one moment’s impatience can destroy your life, the lives of your family and the lives of countless others,” he said.

37 people died in level crossing collisions around Australia last year.

Superintendent Mark Fairney says more than half of those fatal crashes occurred where boom gates or other warning devices were operating.

He says police cannot believe the number of people who take risks.

“Trying to explain to the family of those that have been seriously injured or killed, that indeed, their love one made a stupid choice, made a stupid error that, tragically, the rest of the family will have to wear for the rest of their lives,” he said.

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A man, 35, and a woman, 23, died last August when their utility failed to stop as a freight train neared the crossing at Bumbunga, on the Lochiel-Blyth Road, about 130 kilometres north of Adelaide.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says toxicology tests on the victims showed high levels of methamphetamine and ecstasy.

The report said the train driver had done all he could to warn the car’s driver before the collision.

The utility was torn in half and one of the victims was dragged nearly one kilometre down the track as the train came to a stop.

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The boy was killed on Saturday afternoon on a country railway crossing at Nantawarra, about 115 kilometres north of Adelaide.

Police say the boy had wandered from his home a short distance from the crossing and the train driver was unable to avoid hitting him.

Sergeant Jim Tappin says the boy’s father and uncle made the discovery after the northbound train stopped suddenly.

“It’s just a tragic accident – the parents were looking for him at the time,” he said.

“The kids were playing and when they went looking for him for lunch they could not find him.

“The family obviously are extremely upset as is everyone else that’s been here today.”

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Police said the incident happened on a level crossing on Bagsters Rd at Salisbury North about 11.15pm and that no on had been hurt. They said the train had dragged the vehicle about 800m from the point of impact.

Police said the driver of the old 4WD took a shortcut along a section of disused road.

The vehicle stalled while crossing the train line, as a two-engine freight train headed towards it down the line.

“The driver and his occupant jumped out to safety, and the train collided with the vehicle, pushing it about 800m down the track before coming to a stop,” a police spokeswoman said.

The driver of the train was the only person on board and was not injured.

The 4WD was written off, while the train was only slightly damaged and able to continue its journey.

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Wakefield Regional Council documents from June this year indicate that the Australian Rail Track Corporation – which manages the rail line – proposed to upgrade the crossing with boomgates and flashing lights, using a share of $11.2 million in State Government funding for safety upgrades.

The documents did not say when the upgrade was to occur.

The man and woman who died yesterday, believed to be in their mid-twenties, were in a car on the Lochiel-Blyth road when an Adelaide-bound freight train ploughed into the vehicle just before 4pm, killing them instantly.

The train, travelling in excess of 100 km/h, hit the car with such force that the SA-registered, late-model Commodore was split in two, flinging the front half over 10m. The remainder of the car was dragged over 600 metres.

When the train finally screeched to a halt, a car door was still lodged in the train’s front.

Traffic Support Branch Inspector Silvano Codem said the car was demolished by the train.

“The car was severely damaged and the wreckage is strewn a considerable distance,” he said.

“It’s understood that the train driver was sounding the horn prior to the collision. We are unable to say at this stage if the vehicle attempted to stop before the collision.”

Insp Codem said police could not confirm whether the car was stationary before the accident. The fatal crash is the latest in a string of accidents on the rail line, which stretches from Adelaide to Port Augusta and has claimed at least six lives since 2003.

The crossing, near the entrance to the Snowtown-Bumbunga road, had no boomgates or flashing lights.

The tragic accident comes just a day after the end of National Rail Safety Week, which urged motorists to take care around trains, with the slogan: “All level-crossing collisions are avoidable”.

It also follows the March announcement of $13.3 million in Federal Government funding to upgrade safety measures at 34 “high-risk” level crossings across South Australia over the next four years, including crossings in Virginia, Two Wells and Mallala. The funding program was announced in conjunction with a level-crossing safety campaign, launched by former road safety minister Tom Koutsantonis.

The campaign, which concluded in June, included billboards, posters, radio and television advertisements as well as a specially “wrapped” tram in Adelaide and a wrapped Pacific National diesel locomotive, to spread the message in rural South Australia.

Since 2001, 33 people have died in SA level-crossing collisions and another 71 have been seriously injured.

Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union SA/NT branch secretary Ashley Waddell said the safety message was not sinking in.

“We’re running out of ideas. We’ve run education programs, ad campaigns, we’ve beefed up fines, upgraded level crossings. Nothing seems to work,” he said.

“Not even people dying seems to help.

“People just treat level crossings with contempt.”

There are 1140 railway crossings in South Australia.

The State Government has spent $13 million on upgrading crossings around the state since 2003.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation could not be reached for comment.

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