Pedestrians wearing hoods and headphones enter the tracks, they cannot hear whether a tram is coming and they do not respond to the driver's bell – such situations are an everyday occurrence in Warsaw. Tramwaje Warszawskie is launching a social campaign. They show dangerous behavior of pedestrians that could have led to a tragedy.
“You won't hear an approaching tram or a warning bell in your headphones. Our tram drivers are increasingly paying attention to the growing problem of people blocking themselves from their surroundings with headphones, disregarding the traffic next to them. In the vast majority of cases – thanks to the vigilance of our employees – an accident is avoided. Unfortunately, Situations occur more and more often in which even the best and fastest reaction of the driver is not able to prevent a misfortune,” Tramwaje Warszawskie warns in a statement on this subject.
Situations like this happen every day
They also quote tram drivers who have experienced such situations.
– I have had such cases many times when pedestrians wearing hoods and headphones entered the track without checking whether they had the green light – says Adrian Å»ach, a tram driver with seven years of work experience.
– Unfortunately, it happens that children play and fool around. With headphones on, they can't hear what's going on or anything coming, notes Martyna Mirecka, a tram driver with nine years of experience.
– I was leaving the stop and used the warning signal. At the same moment, as if nothing had happened, a pedestrian also started moving and fell in front of my tram. He fell over and his hood fell off his head. It turned out that he had headphones in his ears – says Tomasz Wrzosek, head of the transport department at the Praga depot and a tram driver with 11 years of work experience.
The driver will not be able to stop the 40-ton machine
However, not everyone is so lucky. The tram has a long braking distance and will not stop in one place. When he is traveling at the prescribed speed between stops and a pedestrian enters the crossing a dozen or so meters in front of the tram, the tram driver applies emergency brakes, but he still will not be able to stop the over 40-ton machine. So all that remains is to call as a warning. And this won't help if the pedestrian is wearing headphones and can't hear either the approaching tram or the warning bell.
“Unfortunately, we have already recorded the first fatal accidents in such circumstances – e.g. at the beginning of the year, in Mokotów” – remind tram drivers.
– Imagine a situation in which a completely innocent tram driver hits a pedestrian who, through his own fault, steps in front of the tram. This is a huge stress for our employee. It excludes him from work for many days, even though we employ psychologists who try to work through this trauma with each person individually – emphasizes Tomasz Wrzosek.
For many years, Tramwaje Warszawskie has been conducting campaigns to improve road safety. In 2018, the “Put down your smartphone and live” campaign was launched. In this year's edition of TW, they draw attention to the problem of people using headphones.
Recipes
“We would like to remind you that since 2001, pedestrians cannot use telephones and other distracting electronic devices when entering or crossing the road (or tracks). This provision regulates art. 14 point 8 of the Act of June 20, 1997, Road Traffic Law: “It is prohibited to use a telephone or other electronic device while entering or crossing a road or track, including when entering or crossing a pedestrian crossing – in a way that limits the possibility of observing the situation on the road, track or pedestrian crossing. “.
The problem of people using telephones or headphones largely escapes accident statistics. This issue is usually not investigated in detail by the police or included in official statistics.
Main photo source: Warsaw Trams