MOTORISTS are the main cause of level crossing accidents and should be forced to slow down, a federal inquiry has said.

It also wants equally tough penalties for level crossing driving offences across Australia, testing of rumble strips and trials of warning systems to alert drivers of approaching trains.

In a report tabled in federal parliament on Monday night, a House of Representatives committee says the number of collisions at level crossings was “unacceptably high".

The report said that while there was no single cause for all level crossing crashes, “the most significant factor leading to level crossing collisions is the behaviour of motor vehicle drivers, including drivers of heavy vehicles''.

“As such, methods to adapt and improve this behaviour have the potential to drastically reduce the number of level crossing crashes across Australia."

The report called for speed limits to be reduced to 80 kilometres an hour at level crossings on major highways with speed limit of 100 km an hour or more.

It said Victoria had lifted its penalties for level crossing offences and there should be a push to apply these consistently across Australia.

The report also called for trials of passive rumble strips and the more active variety, which are only triggered by the approach of a train.

It said there should be more research into the feasibility of a cut-in warning system to warn vehicle drivers of on-coming trains as they approach a level crossing.

The report called for “rigorous scientific research'' into the feasibility of using auxiliary lighting on trains to improve visibility.

And it said on-going maintenance of retro-reflective devices on locomotives should be made mandatory.