Please note that Train has the Right of Way on level crossings whether they are protected by signals , poles etc or unprotected., So it is the driver's responsibility to take care of all the possibilities such as malfunction of lights , unprotected or poor visibility , heavy traffic etc. If you decide to cross the level crossing you always take the full risk every time you do that!! Train needs to toot or signals are not at fault but they only assist others
This is the reason that KV line improvement project (abandoned by GR on advice of prof Gunaruwan who could not understand the reason why it was elevated!) planned it to be elevated from ground due to unusually large no of level crossings found in KV line in suburbs of colombo, which needs to be closed every time a train travels! At the moment this is not a big issue as KV line trans are not that frequent, but will not be always with rapid need for transport in this area due to high density of population. Unfortunate lives could have saved but the negligence of driver is not an excuse and dearly paid. RIP/bliss of nibanna for unfortunate victims. (we do not know what happened inside the car to distract the driver or did not see the lights or took the risk, with the child ?). It looks that driver tried to reverse after seeing the danger and due to cry of the man , but it was too late.