Posters highlight railroad safety concerns

4 p.m., Oct. 17, 2005--To increase student awareness about pedestrian and motorist train safety issues, a new poster with a list of safety tips and precautionary practices has been placed in various campus and community locations as part of a new train safety campaign.

The “Trains of thought” poster, sponsored by the Delaware Undergraduate Student Congress (DUSC) and the CSX Corp., urges pedestrians and motorists to “Use Xtreme caution” when approaching any railroad crossing and to remember that railroads are private property and that walking on or near them is extremely dangerous.

The train safety campaign was prompted by four serious accidents during the 2004-05 academic year involving pedestrians and trains, including the death of an 18-year-old freshman, who was fatally struck by a train on the CSX Railroad trestle near Cleveland Avenue and North Chapel Street on Sept. 12, 2004.

“The train death last fall of Rachel Payne reminded us all of the need to continually educate UD students and others of the danger that exists on and near train tracks,” Rick Armitage, director of government relations at UD, said. “During the last academic year four people were hit by CSX trains in Newark. Two died and two were seriously injured. The message needed to be simple and direct.”

The train safety project team produced the slogan, “Stay off the tracks,” and the “Train for thought” poster was designed by Monroe Givens, associate director of creative services in UD’s Office of Public Relations.

“The signs are jointly sponsored by DUSC and the CSX Corp.,” John Cordrey, DUSC president, said. “Mike McKee, BE ’05, and Amanda Schmidt, AS ’05, both officers of DUSC, approached various vendors on Main Street and requested that they display the train safety posters in their establishments.”

The posters highlight eight important train safety tips and warnings, including a reminder that trains may be closer than they appear, and that they are wider than most people think.

DUSC officers Mike McKee and Amanda Schmidt staple the new train safety poster to a Main Street bulletin board.

Unlike motor vehicles, trains traveling at 55 mph take as much as a mile and a half to stop, the poster notes, and persons involved in a car crash with a train are 20 times more likely to die than in accidents involving other motor vehicles.

The train safety campaign, including posters and cards being distributed by the Newark Police Department, is a result of the combined efforts of UD staff members, DUSC, UD and city of Newark police staff and DelDOT (Delaware Department of Transportation), Armitage said.

“We discussed ways to increase police enforcement and if there were any engineering changes that should be implemented to make railroad crossings and tracks safer,” Armitage said. “We also looked for any means of education we could take to keep anyone from being struck again.”

Also included in the train safety campaign is the posting of 10 street signs close to the three railroad grade crossings in Newark and the placement of “Trains for thought” safety signs on UD buses. DelDOT has rented sign space on I-95 and other sites for six months, using Operation Lifesaver [www.oli.org] artwork for the billboards.

“I am very enthusiastic about the ‘Trains for thought’ posters,” Armitage said. “Hopefully, they are having the impact of reminding our students and others about how dangerous trains can be.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Sarah Simon, AS ‘06
Graphics by Monroe Givens

E-mail this article

To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.