Illegal track crossing on the OEBB, Austria’s railways, has resulted in 15 casualties this year! That’s more than than the OEBB has recorded in the last six years, according to Thomas Berger, spokesperson for the OEBB.
So, what’s different? Have people just stopped paying attention while crossing rail tracks?
Thomas Berger has already come up with a possible reason: each year, more and more people listen to music while travelling. With music blasting in their ears, they are less likely to notice a train rushing towards them and therefore are at a higher risk for getting run over. “It came to light that some of the casualties had earphones plugged in at the time when they were hit,” says Thomas Berger.
Who would have thought that music would turn into a common cause of death someday?! After a crazy lawsuit, will warning stickers be attached to our new iPods and iPhones: “Warning, listening to music might cause fatal accidents” or “Listening to music can damage your life and interrupt public transportation”?!
So, watch out for those trains!! Don’t listen to music when on the move or if you have to- simply: don’t cross rail tracks without looking and listening first!
Maria/tripwolf this post has been translated (thanks Lea!) and edited (go me!). The original post can be found here.
