NJ Transit presented two rather blunt public service announcements Friday with a simple plea: "Stay off the tracks." The goal is to reduce railroad fatalities.

Titled "You Don't Win" and "You're Dead," the ads that will begin running this weekend on broadcast and cable networks in Philadelphia and New York give dramatic, firsthand accounts from police and transit workers involved in recent fatalities and from the families of people who were killed.

Three deaths last fall were apparently part of a widespread problem on railroads in the region — people trespassing on tracks who are accidentally killed and those who enter the danger zone to commit suicide. In the last two years, at least 91 people have been killed by trains on NJ Transit and SEPTA lines, officials have said.


The videos can be found here: http://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=SafetyTo

 
Public safety message geared towards teens and young adults on why they and their friends should stay away from railroad tracks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLRwJJl49GI
 


·       Railroads are private property; those who trespass are subject to fines or arrest[1]

·       Many modern trains approach silently and most do not follow set schedules

·       Most freight trains are approaching faster than they appear

·       It can take up to a mile (or 18 football field lengths) for a train going 40 miles per hour to come to a complete stop

·       500 people annually die while trespassing on railroad property[2]

·      Trains have the right-of-way over cars, emergency vehicles and pedestrians in the State of Michigan[3]

What can you do to be safe near the tracks?

·       Look both directions before crossing

·       End all cell phone calls and take out earphones prior to crossing

·       Near an area that has two tracks, be on the lookout for a train to come from either direction. Just because one passed going one way, doesn’t mean another isn’t behind it or going the opposite way

·      Only cross in designated areas for pedestrians

Sources:

[1]
Operation Lifesaver. (2012). Pedestrian safety. Retrieved from: http://oli.org/education-resources/pedestrian-safety

[2]
Federal Railroad Administration. (2008). Rail trespasser fatalities: developing demographic profiles. Retrieved from: http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/safety/tdreport_final.pdf

[3]
Michigan Legislature. (2009). Michigan Compliance Law 462.273: railroad code of 1993. Retrieved from: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28flceljf0ktxrfvuacx53uu45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-462-273