Caltrain Reaches out to Riders with New Rail Safety Spots

As the sun rose over the bay, Caltrain outreach staff was assembled at the San Francisco train station to premier the commuter rail agency’s new safety spots for TV and radio and to distribute rail safety information. The new series of video and audio public service announcements, titled “Because…” focuses on the many excuses people give for ignoring active railroad crossing arms.

Between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., peak weekday commute hours, several thousand Caltrain riders had an opportunity to see the new PSAs and to talk to Caltrain staff and Transit Police about rail safety and laws regarding railroad crossing arms and trespassing. Transit police regularly cite drivers and pedestrians for attempting to cross the tracks after the arms have been activated, but before they are completely down, or they go around the lowered arms altogether. Fines for this offense can run more than $400.

“We hear all sorts of excuses from people,” said Detective Victor Lopez of Caltrain’s Transit Police Division. “They say they ignored the signals because they were late, or because they had an appointment, or because they didn’t know it was dangerous. But what they don’t realize is that ‘because’ doesn’t count for anything when you get hit by a train.”

The PSAs will air on stations carried by Comcast cable, and they are available for viewing online at www.caltrain.com/railsafety. Caltrain also produced a bookmark with safety information with the “Because…” theme that will be available on trains.

These PSAs are part of Caltrain’s ongoing rail safety campaign, “Don’t Shortcut Life,” which began in May 2006. Between May 2006 and May 2007, Caltrain conducted approximately 100 presentations on rail safety to schools and community groups, for nearly 7,500 people. Any community or school-based group that would like to schedule a rail safety presentation can contact Caltrain’s outreach program at 650.508.7934.

07/31/07 - jbw
Media Contact: Jonah Weinberg – 650.508.6238