Editing Selby rail crash (section)

===Health and Safety Commission and Highways Agency reports===
In response to the crash, the [[Health and Safety Commission]] (HSC) and [[Highways Agency]] (HA) created working groups to look into the risk of incursions onto railway property.{{sfn|DfT|2003|p=1}} The HSC reviewed previous incidents of road vehicles entering railway property other than at level crossings, and the HA reviewed the use of safety barriers on the nearside of major roads.{{sfn|HSC|2002|pp=5-6}}{{sfn|HA|2002|loc=chpt. 1}} Both groups published their reports on 25 February 2002.{{sfn|DfT|2003|p=1}}

The HSC identified that of the ~50 vehicles that incur onto railway property each year, ~5 are hit by a train. The working group stated that they expected a derailment to occur every one to two years, and that around one in a hundred of these derailments would then involve a collision with another train. They calculated that a similar event on the scale of the Selby rail crash would occur every 300–400 years. This resulted in a risk of ~0.1 deaths per year for occupants in trains, and ~0.4 deaths per year for occupants in road vehicles.{{sfn|HSC|2002|pp=8-11}}

The HSC working group compared the ~0.5 deaths per year previously calculated to the ~600 deaths per year in accidents where road vehicles leave the carriageway in general, and the ~20 deaths per year in general rail accidents. The working group concluded that the risk was tiny in comparison to other road risks, and small in comparison to other rail risks. They stated that considerations should still be made to reduce the rail risk, but that these should not outweigh other projects tackling higher risks to road and rail.{{sfn|HSC|2002|pp=12-14}}

Several methods of reducing risk were considered by the HSC working group. These included publicity campaigns to educate drivers, and tackling vandalism and careless behaviour. The report also included methods for reducing the severity of incursions onto railway property. These included measures in preventing incursions from reaching a point where a line is obstructed, preventing trains from hitting vehicles on the line, and reducing the severity of train collisions if they did occur.{{sfn|HSC|2002|pp=24-29,35}} Overall, the report made recommendations including enabling and carrying out risk assessments; appropriately responding to those risk assessments; and implementing improvements where necessary.{{sfn|HSC|2002|pp=33-36}}

The HA working group reviewed historical data for road vehicles leaving the carriageway towards the nearside, using police-submitted accident reports. These reports were only completed where injuries occurred, and the working group found that non-fatal accidents were under-reported to the police. From the data, they found that such accidents only accounted for 5% of all road accidents, but for 11% of annual road fatalities.{{sfn|HA|2002|loc=chpt. 2}} They calculated that around 0.4 vehicles a year would leave a major road to the nearside, and reach a rail line without being stopped by either a safety barrier or hazard. They found that unprotected nearside road hazards carry a higher economic risk than the hazard associated with a vehicle reaching a rail line, mainly due to the much lower likelihood of the latter occurring.{{sfn|HA|2002|loc=chpt. 3}}

The HA working group found no risk assessment process in place for providing safety barriers at specific sites. A standard did exist for where to place safety barriers. This standard was risk assessed at the design stage.{{sfn|HA|2002|loc=chpt. 3}} Overall, the HA working group found that the existing standards for the provision of safety barriers were sufficient, but made recommendations including further research to protect against collisions with nearside hazards; further developing risk assessments for providing safety barriers; and improving the collection of accident data, including accidents without any injuries.{{sfn|HA|2002|loc=chpt. 6}}