CZ/SK verze

Railroads Are Not Playgrounds! Social Media Challenges Seriously Threaten the Safety of Operations

Railroads Are Not Playgrounds! Social Media Challenges Seriously Threaten the Safety of Operations
photo: The Telegraph / Capital / Public domain/The Railway Children
02 / 05 / 2024

Under the influence of imitating dangerous challenges on social media, statistics show an alarming increase in these incidents, which can have fatal consequences for the perpetrators and other people on trains and tracks.

Influenced by social media appeals, people are increasingly endangering traffic safety by placing objects on the tracks. In addition, they are breaking laws prohibiting access to the tracks. They do not realize that they are not only putting themselves in serious danger but also endangering the people on the trains.

In an attempt to showcase their creativity, children and young people often ignore the rules and venture into places where they risk injury or even death. In their pursuit of attention, they not only risk their health but also gamble with traffic safety. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, in the Czech Republic, there were 20 cases of objects being placed on the tracks. If this trend continues, it would nearly double the number of incidents from the previous two years. Specifically, there were 53 incidents recorded in 2023 in Czechia, compared to 38 the year before.

Such behavior, classified as a criminal offense, can also cause train derailments or significant material damage, which is then recovered from the perpetrators. In the case of minors, their parents are, of course, liable for the damage caused.

That is why railway infrastructure managers are appealing particularly to parents to warn their children that while content on social media is one thing, imitating or spreading risky messages often has fatal consequences. It is not only the train drivers and passengers on trains who can pay the price, but also the actors themselves and their loved ones.

 

Source: Czech Railway Administration (Správa železnic)

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