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Operation Lifesaver

Delivering Rail Safety's Message to the Public

The national focus in transit safety has increased, particularly in the wake of several high-profile train collisions on rail transit systems over the last decade. But, it is important to remember that 71% of transit-related fatalities in 2012 were pedestrians, trespassers or occupants of cars that collided with transit vehicles.

How Operation Lifesaver can help your transit system’s safety program

Transit is one of the safest ways to travel in the U.S. According to the National Safety Council, the lifetime odds of being killed as a rail passenger are 1 in 178,000, compared to the 1 in 415 odds of being killed as an occupant of a passenger car. A closer look at recent transit fatality statistics reveals where the problem areas lie. According to FTA statistics, 262 people died in transit-related incidents in 2012 (not including commuter rail systems, which are regulated by the FRA).

Transit safety is a community effort

Rail fatalities, accidental and intentional, are a national problem. To combat the rise in fatalities and remind the public of the dangers of walking along, playing by or cutting across its train and trolley tracks and through its rail yards and depots, SEPTA held its first-ever Safety Awareness Day on May 1.

OL: Pedestrian-rail crossing deaths up

While highway-rail crossing collisions are down slightly, deaths and injuries from crossing crashes and pedestrian-train incidents rose in the first four months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

FRA continues effort to improve safety at rail crossings

Prevention strategies include expanded educational outreach through OLI and the development of community action plans in concert with greater law enforcement action. Recommendations for railroad station safety include providing audible and visual warnings of approaching trains, station and platform structural improvements and, where feasible, fences to prohibit access to railroad tracks.

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