BARRIERS and warning lights at level crossings are there for a reason. To save lives.

So we have just three words for those idiots who try to save a few seconds by crossing the tracks as a train approaches: don't do it.

In the past year there have been 25 serious incidents at the Haxby Road crossing, including a schoolgirl caught between the barriers, and 16 people running or walking across when the warning lights were flashing.

Any could have resulted in tragedy.

So please, please, next time you arrive at a crossing when a train is coming ... wait until it has passed.