Low attention due to the use of smartphones and other devices at the center of the ninth edition of ILCAD (International Level Crossing Awareness Day), the international day of information and awareness of level crossings – promoted by the Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (UIC) – which was held on June 2 in Montreal (Canada).
Among the main causes of accidents, even fatal ones, involving motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians at level crossings there are also distraction and erroneous habitual behaviors when crossing the tracks when the barriers are closed; failure to comply with the Highway Code (art. 147), safety regulations and road signs.
In Italy, on the network managed by RFI in 2016 there were 21 accidents at level crossings: 13 with vehicles, five with pedestrians and three with obstacles placed on the line. Five dead and as many injured. The number of accidents is down on the previous year. In 2015 there were 37, of which 14 with vehicles, 15 with pedestrians and cyclists and eight with various obstacles, with eight dead and nine injured.
“Making rail transport safer and more reliable – he underlined Renato Mazzoncini, UIC President and Chief Executive Officer of FS Italiane in his speech in Montreal – is the commitment we have at UIC and which is shared by all the world's railways to make the advantages of this mode of transport even more visible. As FS Italiane Group, we are investing in the elimination of level crossings and in the installation of new technologies, but it is equally important to make all road and rail users aware of being more careful and not getting distracted near a level crossing”.
The theme of ILCAD 2017 was therefore the distraction caused by using smartphones or other devices, especially for people aged 15 to 35 who often underestimate the risks they run by using electronic devices while driving or walking. The purpose of the campaign is therefore to inform citizens about the safe behavior to adopt near level crossings. ILCAD well represents some objectives that have always been in the UIC's DNA, such as making the transport offer more reliable, increasingly integrated thanks to interoperability, making all its technical expertise available in order to globally improve the advantages of this mode of interconnected transport. This includes intelligent management of the interfaces between different modes of transport and all the work that has been going on for years with the road sector on level crossings.
