Music artist Professor Green is encouraging people to stop listening to his music. He’s teamed up with us for our new safety campaign asking people to remove their headphones at level crossings so they aren’t distracted from warnings about approaching trains.
Two people have tragically died this year at footpath crossings and it is thought they were wearing headphones, in the past five years there have been 19 incidents involving headphones at level crossings.
Two people have died this year at footpath crossings where it is thought they were wearing headphones. In the past five years, train drivers or railway staff have reported 19 incidents where pedestrians, joggers or cyclists wearing headphones have crossed the railway, seemingly oblivious to the approaching train.
Professor Green, rapper
Win Sonos music speakers
Our digital campaign ‘Lose Your Headphones’ features the popular rapper in a video which appears on the music streaming service Spotify as well as being promoted via social media sites such as Twitter. We’re offering a prize of Sonos music speakers to five lucky winners who re-tweet our campaign message.
Don’t get distracted
Trains can travel up to 125mph on the main British rail network and even with safety warnings such as lights and signs at footpaths across the tracks, it’s easy to get distracted if you’re caught up with your favourite tune.
Stay safe
Dr Bruno Fazenda, from the Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford said: “Hearing is the only sense that can warn us of dangers we can’t see and when listening to music with headphones we become isolated and are less likely to hear sounds that might tell us of approaching dangers. It’s not just the volume of the music but also because the headphone itself blocks out ambient noise.
There is also plenty of evidence which shows that when you are doing two activities at the same time, such as listening to music or texting and crossing a railway track, your attention gets divided in such a way that you might not notice an approaching train even if all the warning signals are there.”
Read more about level crossings and how to use them safely.
For videos, content on rail safety for 11-17 year olds, facts and advice go to www.rail-life.co.uk.