Elderly woman on a moped gets trapped between barriers seconds before train passes near Třinec

A dangerous incident occurred on Thursday at a railway crossing near Třinec, when an elderly woman on a moped got stuck between two lowered barriers just a couple of metres from a passing train. The moment was caught on camera and later shared on the Facebook page "Třinec živě - BEZ CENZURY".

The footage shows the woman sitting on her moped with her back to the train, apparently unaware of just how close the train was passing. According to the person who filmed the video, the situation arose because she tried to cross at the wrong moment. "When the barriers go up but the red light is still flashing, it's probably not the best idea to just go ahead and drive through. The woman was a bit too quick, and before she could get across, she was caught again as the barriers came back down. It was a close call," he described.

Not officially classified as an incident

Jan Kučera, director general of the Railway Inspection Authority, said that from a legal standpoint — under the Railways Act — this case cannot be classified as an emergency incident. He noted that the video doesn't clearly show how far the edge of the moped actually was from the axis of the nearest rail.

"If that distance was more than two and a half metres, the moped was outside the train's clearance zone. But I'm afraid most ordinary people wouldn't be able to judge that just by looking," he explained.

Kučera was also puzzled that the woman didn't move her moped as far away from the tracks as possible. "There was still space between her and the barrier — not to mention that she could have got off the moped and pushed it at least halfway under the barrier," he pointed out, adding that fortunately, thanks to the sufficient distance, there was no contact between the moped and the train.

Why didn't anyone help?

Some commenters on social media were surprised that none of the drivers waiting at the crossing came to the woman's aid. "In that moment, filming a video would be the last thing on my mind — I'd have jumped out straight away and lifted the barrier to get her to safety! I once did exactly that for a woman on a bicycle. She was in shock, but so grateful! So next time, please, think less about social media and more about actually helping," one commenter wrote.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz