Walk, talk on track cause most deaths

The flip side of smartphone addiction has reared its head as reports suggest a shocking rise in fatalities on railway tracks.

As many as 1,128 persons were killed on railway tracks in Chennai last year. As per sources, 95 per cent of them died crossing railways tracks while either listening to music on their mobile phones or talking to someone with their hands-free devices. This year so far, 149 have already been knocked down by EMU's. 

The railway police’s investigations on these accidental deaths revealed that a majority of the victims had their headphones on, attached to their mobile phones or music players. The issue has prompted the authorities of the Southern Railways to take up serious measures to prevent such accidents. 

“We are now conducting weekly awareness drives in every railway station on Fridays. We have also constructed compound walls in several principal zones to block access to the tracks. But unless people decide to stop using mobile phones while crossing tracks, there is nothing much we can do,” a senior railway police official told DT Next. 

Railway police sources said the numbers of such accidents are on the rise as more people use smartphones these days. “Fatalities occur across age-groups. We have found passengers over 60, who have died on the tracks and they were spotted with their headphones on,” the official added. 

“We may need to prevent crossing of railway track completely by deploying our personnel, at least at stations and nearby areas. People even break the compound walls constructed by us to gain access to the tracks,” a railway police official added. 

People think they can cross the track in a second and throw all caution to the wind. When they are either listening to music or talking to someone on phone, they fail to hear the honking of the fast approaching train.