With more than 1,000 near hits around Australian railway lines every year, authorities are pleading for motorists to consider the potential impact.

“In reality, these 1,000 near hits show us that 1,000 people could have ruined their own life,” says Tim Fischer from the TrackSAFE Foundation.

“As well as the lives of the train driver, scene attendants, witnesses, and their family. A rail accident affects more than just you and that’s the message the industry is trying to get across.

“Rail is the safest form of land transport. The issue is behavioural,” Fischer said.

“When people go to take risks around railway lines they fail to realise that trains always have right of way and simply cannot stop quickly.

“It can take a fully loaded freight train up to 2km to stop, that’s equivalent to 14 full sized football fields, it is time that people heed this warning.

“Every single death or injury on the rail network is avoidable if people remain vigilant and obey the rules, we therefore simply cannot and will not let this issue fall off the radar,” Fischer said.

There are many efforts to improve the often tragic intersection of road and rail transport, including the annual Rail Safety Week, which ran up to August 17.

Activities and events included Sydney Trains’ TrackSAFE with Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’ event at Central Station; South Australia Police ran an enforcement campaign with a display stall at Adelaide Railway Station; and Metro Trains Melbourne held a launch event at Flinders St Station with its infamous ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ characters.

TrackSAFE has also put up a number of useful rail safety materials on its site. 

The following video shows a young man attempting to take a photo of himself in a rail corridor. A train driver is forced to kick him in the head to prevent him being injured or killed by the metal parts of the train.