This is a very important question with a very important answer. Railroad safety is what you need to understand if you are in an area where trains happen to be. Railroads happen to be among the most dangerous places for people to be. Trains are fast killing machines. The engineers can only apply the brakes and hope the train stops. Railroads are also dangerous workplaces for the people who are supposed to be there and even more dangerous for those who aren't. You need to understand what railroad safety is because it will keep you alive, prevent you from being disabled, disfigured, and keep you with people who care about you. Survival around trains comes to one crucial choice...THE CHOICE TO STAY AWAY!
It is scary is that the public today is disregarding railroad safety because some people- especially young and older teenagers or people who are adults, do not understand the dangers of being on the tracks and around trains. They ignore the dangers and are looking for an adventure. A few feel entitled to be there and feel that railroads are public property. Railroads are PRIVATE PROPERTY. Period. Their perceptions of the rules and what they see on the tracks are WRONG. Some also think other people that got hurt are stupid and they know more about railroad safety than the person who got hurt. Some feel a fatality or injury will never happen to them and grow complacent. As a result, several people are killed each year because they CHOOSE TO IGNORE THE RULES.
Rules have a reason. These rules are there for your protection in order to keep you safe from a dangerous hazard that can either kill or disable you. There is a truth about why the rules are made. Too many people were killed doing dangerous things. The minute you don't respect and follow the rules, tragedy can strike with little to no warning. In seconds, that impact with a train will affect the life you will live or not live. With technology and ear buds, teenagers walking along tracks are often hit by trains. They're not hearing the train approaching or distracted by taking selfies on the tracks. They're caught up in personal moments while oblivious in a very dangerous place. A train strikes people about every 2 hours in the United States. In our study of this topic, there are more questions that should come up and be discussed with students and people in our communities.
Trains cannot stop on a dime like cars and trains are now getting longer and longer. The trains of today are well over two miles long. They take several minutes to come to a complete stop which increases their stopping distance.
This map reflects people killed by NJ Transit trains. Black pins are people who committed suicide and red indicates people who have been struck by trains. A few of those people did survive, but their lives were never the same. Dark Green pins are Terminals. Fatalities range from ages 11- 62. This is just on NJ Transit from what I found on the internet. This sample does not include freight and other commuter railroads in the US.
This map below is an extension of what is shown above. This covers both FREIGHT and PASSENGER train tragedies. As you can see, this is a problem across the nation. These points represent a few of thousands of train fatalities in the US over several years. EVERY state has an accident of some sort and more in the urban areas. It's a growing problem in the US.