Stay focused – a safety message from Luas.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD; Luas operator, Transdev; and the Railway Procurement Agency combined forces today (Wednesday) to publicise a worrying trend regarding pedestrian behaviour around trams.
CCTV footage taken from the Luas Drivers’ Cab shows pedestrians walking out in front of trams because they are engrossed in conversation on their phone, deafened by their music or quite simply blinded by their hoodie and don’t look left or right before they cross the road. The outcome is a near miss or worse hitting a tram.
The campaign aim is to remind people to stay focused and carries the message; Is being in a hurry or distracted really worth your life?
Brian Brennan, Managing Director of Transdev welcomed the launch of the video and said: “This year alone Luas drivers have had 71 near misses with pedestrians, these could all have been tragedies and most, if not all, of the incidents were caused by pedestrians being distracted by their phone.
Whilst I know, and Luas drivers know, mobile phones keep us all connected, our message is stay focused – think safety. Being distracted is dangerous and can be fatal. Listen out, the phone can wait, watch out for trams”.
Minister Donohoe said: ’The advent of the Luas has made a phenomenal difference to our public transport system and to how we get around Dublin. Unfortunately, however, many do not view the dangers associated with the trams in the same way they do a bus or a car, with people regularly seen absent-mindedly stepping out onto the tracks at the last minute or with their attention diverted to mobile devices. This campaign is designed to alert pedestrians to the dangers that exist. And with 71 incidents recorded so far in 2014 where tram drivers were forced to apply the Emergency Brake to avoid the tram making contact with a pedestrian, it is much needed. I would urge all road users to put the phone away when crossing any road or track and to give due consideration to the possible outcome of such distractions, which are simply not worth it.”
In welcoming the launch of the video, Rory O’Connor, Acting CEO of the Railway Procurement Agency, confirmed that safety was RPA’s top priority. “Our overriding safety concerns relate to car drivers breaking red lights and a lack of awareness by pedestrians of their surroundings due to the distractions of mobile phones and headphones. We ran a hugely successful campaign aimed at motorists earlier this year, and we are now focussing on educating pedestrians about the importance of paying attention when crossing streets, particularly in and around the Luas.”
In order to drive the message home to pedestrians, Transdev and Railway Procurement Agency have released CCTV footage which can be viewed on Luas Social Media pages;
https://www.youtube.com/user/officialluas www.facebook.com/Luas @Luas #LuasSafety www.luas.ie
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