Queensland Rail and Queensland Police are seeking to improve safety at level crossings.
Near misses with pedestrians at level crossings is an ongoing issue on the Queensland Rail network.
Queensland Rail says that it is committed to improving safety at level crossings through education, engineering upgrades and working with the Queensland Police Service, however, individuals have a crucial role in behaving safely by obeying signs and signals at pedestrian crossings.
A train tragedy doesn’t only affect the victim, it affects their families, friends, first responders, train crew, emergency services and passengers.
A great way to stay safe at level crossings is by being aware of your surroundings, be patient, avoiding distractions and only crossing when signals are clear and gates are open. It’s not worth putting yourself in harm’s way, stay level headed at level crossings.
See YouTube footage of Queensland Rail’s new safety campaign.
The Stay Level Headed at Level Crossings campaign aims to raise awareness of the risk and consequences of disobeying level crossing warning signs and signals amongst South East Queensland pedestrians.
During 2020, Queensland Rail experienced 81 near misses with pedestrians at level crossings. Of these near misses 77 occurred in South East Queensland and four in Regional Queensland. Level crossing near misses can cause service disruptions, trauma for train crew, station staff and first responders directly impacted by an incident, injury and in the most tragic cases, death.
Research has shown the most common reasons pedestrians undertook unsafe behaviour at level crossings were impatience, overconfidence, influence of others, distraction, and inattention.
The Stay Level Headed at Level Crossings campaign aims to combat these risk-taking behaviours by teaching pedestrians to remain calm, be patient and empowering the audience to make good decisions for themselves.
This campaign was launched during Rail Safety Week 2021.
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