Video: Brno tram and pedestrian accident draws attention to inattention while walking

Prague has recently seen two graphic campaigns to try to inform people of the dangers of looking at phones while crossing tram tracks. An accident in Brno, though, helps to bring the point home.

A 13-year-old boy can be seen crossing directly in front of a moving tram and being knocked down. The boy survived the incident, but nationwide fatal accidents involving trains and public transit are an issue that authorities want to stop.

“On Wednesday evening, a tram and pedestrian accident occurred near Hala Rondo (DRFG Arena). A boy was crossing Nové Sady Street just behind the tram stop. But he was more concerned with his phone than with the traffic situation and stepped directly in front of the arriving tram, ” South Moravia Police spokesman Bohumil Malášek said.

“The driver had no chance to avoid a collision. In addition, the wounded young man remained wedged under the vehicle, and was freed by rescuers with only great difficulty from under the tram. The boy was then transported to the hospital with moderate injuries,” Malášek said.

He added that police
prevention experts warn that telephoning or watching games on a phone
or tablet distracts the pedestrian and is a frequent cause of
pedestrian accidents. Likewise, listening to loud music on headphones
is very dangerous.

Both the Czech
Association of Insurers (ČAP) and the Public Transit Company (DPP)
have launched separate but similar campaigns to point out the
dangers. The campaigns both are in cooperation with local police and
road safety organization BESIP.

The say that in 2013–18 some 90 people was killed in accidents involving pedestrians, and 3,696 were injured. In Prague, the most unsafe places are at Ječná / Sokolská, náměstí IP Pavlova / Legerova, Jugoslávská / Bělehradská, and Spálená / Národní.

The results of a survey conducted by the STEM / MARK agency, commissioned by ČAP, revealed that half of pedestrians use a mobile phone while on the road. For younger generations, it is even more.

“Last year, with the Inattention Kills campaign, we focused primarily on the issue of phoning at the wheel. However, even inattentive pedestrians who are more concerned with mobile phones rather than monitoring traffic significantly increase the risk of accidents. According to the survey, two-thirds of pedestrians aged 18 to 44 admit to such behavior. For children and adolescents, this figure may be even higher,” says Jan Matoušek, Executive Director of ČAP, said.

“Emotions will
continue to play a key role in our communication campaign this year.
But we have moved the activities more into the streets and into the
online environment,” he added.

The campaign is
running in Prague, Brno, Plzeň, Hradec Králové, Liberec, Olomouc
and Ostrava. In these seven cities alone, a total of 7,421
pedestrian-related accidents have occurred over the past six years.
Locations where stickers and memorials are installed were selected by
ČAP in cooperation with the Czech Police on the basis of accident
statistics.

“I see the
Inattention Kills campaign effective primarily because it is focused
on the emotions and safety of our loved ones, so I believe that even
warnings about specific fatalities and the outlines of the victims in
the selected locations will make us each think,” Czech Police
prevention coordinator Zuzana Pidrmanová said.

The silhouette spots
were chosen according to the frequency of both pedestrians and tram
traffic. These are: IP Pavlova, Karlovo náměstí, Palackého
náměstí, Národní třída, Staroměstská, Malostranská,
Palmovka, Flora, Želivského, Hradčanská, Masarykovo nádraží,
Dvorce, and Anděl.