New York State Media Contact: Phil Merens, State Coordinator 518-269-9131 or [email protected]
National Media Contact: Operation Lifesaver, Inc. 703-739-0308 or [email protected]
Media Tools
Reporting Near Railroad Tracks. This two and a half minute video provides Safety Information for Media
Reporting Rail Related Suicide. Some reporting and messaging following a suicide death may result in ‘copycat’ suicide attempts, also referred to as suicide contagion. Here are suggestions to avoid that result.
Railroad Safety Statistics and Information
New York Track Safety statistics
Other state’s track safety statistics
Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis
Federal Railroad Administration Grade Crossing Dash Map for Grade Crossing Collisions
Federal Railroad Administration Trespass and Suicide Dashboard
Operation Lifesaver’s History of Success
When Operation Lifesaver began in 1972 there were over 12,000 collisions per year between trains, cars and people, or one every 45 minutes. Due to a safety coalition addressing the three E’s enforcement of traffic laws, engineering improvements and safety education we’ve reduced this by over 80%.
However, every three hours somewhere in the US a person or vehicle is hit by a train, and that’s far too many rail tragedies.