(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Making an impact: In public safety then, as ‘railroadiana’ art now [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-27 “Melbourne’s trams are hit by cars about three times a day and a newly designed model will be easier to repair,” reads the headline as it appeared on the StreetsblogUSA site (usa.streetsblog.org) on October 26, 2023. I can’t imagine. Not the headline, but that Melbourne, Australia’s trams are struck by cars on average three times per day. Contributed by D. A. Gilbert Procuring equipment that may make their trams more easily repairable is one thing. But, keeping the mobile conveyances from being driven into by inattentive or clueless or lawless motorists, I mean, shouldn’t that be where the focus is, I mean, really? Motor vehicles colliding with trains is not some recent phenomenon. Just as the railroads themselves do, these incidents also have a history: They’ve been a reality practically from the get-go, that is, from the time the level crossing was first introduced. We’re talking something like for at least 140 years if not longer. In America, railroads recognized early on that collisions at crossings were bad news. Not only did such present a danger to those in the vehicle, but also to the onboard crews that operated the trains. Such crashes maimed and claimed lives, were costly in terms of the damage incurred and resulted in delays to trains. Something had to be done. Well, something was done. Better warning devices and signage at crossings obviously helped. But, so too did railroad-derived public safety efforts. These were packaged in various ways. One public safety announcement campaign the railroads launched made use of print media to get the safety message across. Railroads took this matter quite seriously. Some reproductions you see here. These telling images — and others like them — made quite the statement back in the day. These depictions, where they once served with the interest of the public in mind when it came to the ordinary citizen’s safety, when it came to a possible negative encounter or interaction with a train or trains, today these prints have become collector’s items and are endeared, artistically speaking. Meanwhile, today, crossing crashes are still with us. But, due to campaigns aimed at educating the public, better warning devices installed at many crossings plus removing crossings and putting in their place grade separations like overheads and undercrossings (bridges, effectively), as well as stepped up enforcement efforts to cite motorists who are ignorant, inattentive or impatient (what I like to call the Three I’s at, properly, highway-railroad grade crossings, such intersections have been made incalculably safer. I said it in an earlier post and definitely bears repeating here: Safety first, last and always! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/27/2201977/-Making-an-impact-In-public-safety-then-as-railroadiana-art-now?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/