Although functional agencies regularly propagate, remind and organize campaigns to eliminate level crossings and self-opened walkways across railways, railway traffic accidents still continuously occur. The main cause is identified as traffic participants not complying with warning signals when crossing level crossings, leading to unfortunate consequences.
Recently, many serious railway traffic accidents have been recorded in localities.
Specifically, at about 7:51 pm on February 25, 2026, at Km15+700 of the North-South railway line, passing through Yen Phu village, Ngoc Hoi commune, an accident occurred between a train and a truck, killing the driver on the spot.
Following that, at about 8:26 pm on March 6, at Km938+475 in Hoa Vinh Tay section, Ve Giang commune, Quang Ngai province, a railway accident occurred at a level crossing with an automatic warning system operating normally. The incident injured the container truck driver, property damage is estimated at about 120 million VND.
Most recently, at about 8:03 pm on March 8, at the Van Dien - Thuong Tin railway section (section passing house number 212, Hoang Liet ward, Hanoi), a railway traffic accident also occurred, killing one person.
According to functional agencies, many accidents occur at intersections between roads and railways due to drivers intentionally overtaking when traffic lights have turned red, barriers are closed or not paying attention to observing trains when crossing the level crossing.
According to the provisions of Article 25 of the Road Traffic Law, at road intersections at the same level as the railway or road bridges sharing the railway, railway vehicles are entitled to priority.
At level crossings with full system of traffic lights, alarm bells and barriers, when the red light turns on, the warning bell sounds or the barrier is moving, road users must stop on their side of the road and maintain a safe distance. Only when the traffic light turns off, the barrier is completely open and the stop signal is sounded is it allowed to pass.
In case the level crossing only has a traffic light or warning bell, when the red light turns on or the warning bell rings, traffic participants must stop and maintain a minimum distance of 5 meters from the nearest railway track. Only when the warning signal stops can they pass.
For intersections without a warning system, vehicle operators are required to carefully observe both sides. Only when it is certain that no train is approaching is allowed to pass; if a train is detected approaching, they must stop, keeping a minimum distance of 5 meters from the nearest railway track.
The law also clearly stipulates the responsibility for handling when a vehicle encounters an incident in the area intersecting with the railway. In case the vehicle is damaged within the railway safety zone, the driver must quickly place a warning signal on the railway at a distance of at least 500 meters to both sides to notify the train driver, and at the same time find a way to notify the railway management unit or the nearest station. In parallel, it is necessary to urgently remove the vehicle from the dangerous area.
People present at the scene are also responsible for assisting the vehicle driver to move the vehicle out of the railway safety zone to prevent accidents.
In addition to safety regulations, current law also sets out specific penalties for violations of traffic rules at level crossings.
According to Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, amended and supplemented by Decree 123/2021/ND-CP, pedestrians who violate regulations at level crossings such as crossing barriers when closed, overtaking when red lights have been turned on or not complying with the orders of level crossing guards may be fined from 60,000 VND to 100,000 VND.
For drivers of motorbikes, mopeds or similar vehicles, the act of crossing barriers while closing or crossing level crossings when the red light turns on may be fined from 800,000 VND to 1 million VND, and may also be revoked of the right to use the driver's license for 1 to 3 months.
Drivers of tractors or specialized motorbikes who violate will be fined from 2 million VND to 3 million VND and have their driving licenses revoked for a period of 1 to 3 months.
Higher penalties apply to drivers of cars and similar types of cars. Accordingly, the act of crossing a barrier when the barrier is closed or crossing a level crossing when the red light turns on may be fined from 4 million VND to 6 million VND, accompanied by a revocation of the driver's license for 1 to 3 months.
In addition, drivers who damage barriers, barriers or safety equipment at level crossings may be fined from 5 million VND to 7 million VND, and at the same time forced to restore the original state of the project.
Traffic experts believe that although warning systems at many level crossings have been invested in, the compliance awareness of a part of traffic participants is still limited. Therefore, in addition to strengthening violation handling, it is necessary to continue to promote propaganda to raise people's awareness when passing through intersections with railways, contributing to reducing the risk of accidents.
