When a truck or lorry strikes a railway bridge the infrastructure owner (Network Rail or London Underground) is obliged to suspend rail traffic until a visual inspection of the damage can be made.
Last year such incidents led to 5,000 delay minutes to rail services on Network Rail alone.
In an attempt to address this NR is undertaking a trial in Ashton-under-Lyne using interactive signs (pictured below) that measure the height of approaching vehicles and alert the driver when their vehicle's height is too great.
Bugger this! thunders The Fact Compiler.
What's wrong with a dirty great girder across the road at the maximum safe height, either side of the bridge.
And if NR wants to pussyfoot around with new technology then why not add a laser cannon targeted at trucker head height?
That'll stop the bridge bashing, delay making, yorkee bar chomping toe-rags in their tracks.
Problem solved!
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