SEPTA Deaths Up Since 2010

Nine people have already died from being struck by SEPTA trains in 2012. Last year’s 15 deaths on SEPTA’s rails marked a big jump from 2009 and 2010, which each saw 10 such deaths. Just two weeks ago, two pedestrians were struck by trains in separate incidents just an hour apart.

“These were the lucky ones, if you want to consider the damage they’re going to deal with the rest of their lives lucky,” said Jim Fox, SEPTA’s director of System Safety and Risk Management. “They’ll see another day.”

But, really, the point is that some of these victims are being hit by trains accidentally—they aren’t suicides. So, SEPTA has increased its effort to inform people in the area that train safety is incredibly important.

SEPTA is concerned enough about the issue that General Manager Joe Casey took to publishing a full-page ad in Metro to remind passengers about the dangers. SEPTA’s letter came three months  after New Jersey Transit launched an awareness campaign with public service announcements following the deaths of three teenagers in October 2011. [Metro]