Protect your life! The railway is a high-risk area!

Ignoring elementary rules of conduct on railway facilities sometimes leads to irreparable consequences – death and injury of people. The railway often becomes a "pedestrian zone", and walking on railway tracks is always associated with risk and danger to life.

An analysis of the causes and conditions of citizen injury incidents indicates that, as before, cases of non-industrial injuries occurred due to the personal carelessness of citizens while near railway tracks (usually while intoxicated).

For 12 months of 2018, 10 (10) cases of non-industrial injuries were recorded (Vitebsk branch – 6 (8), Minsk branch (Orsha transport region) – 4 (2)), of which 5 (5) people died. As in the previous year, no minor was injured.

For example, on 07.08.2018 at 10:10 AM at Orsha-Vostochnaya station, citizen O., born in 1968, was injured by a railcar. He was walking on the track bed between the rails at the station, while wearing headphones connected to a mobile device. Citizen O. did not react to the repeated sound signals from the driver, as he was wearing headphones and his attention was focused on his mobile device.

On 22.11.2018, around 02:50 AM at Orsha-Tsentralnaya station, pensioner L., born in 1959, who was in a state of alcoholic intoxication, was injured by a train.

On 08.12.2018, around 18:10 PM at km 584 of the Slavnoye-Tolochin section, citizen M., born in 1966, a resident of Tolochin, was injured by train No. 6020 traveling from Minsk to Orsha.

There are no cases of harm to citizens' health due to the fault of railway workers.

Due to the fault of car drivers, 3 road traffic accidents occurred (Vitebsk – 3 (2), Orsha – 0 (0)) at railway crossings.

For example, on 17.06.2018 at 09:36 AM at km 12 of Vitba station, the driver of a shunting locomotive applied emergency braking while simultaneously sounding a signal to prevent a collision with an Opel Zafira passenger car, which suddenly drove onto the railway crossing against the red signal lights.

alarm system. Collisions could not be prevented. The front of the locomotive hit the right front of the car. As a result of the accident, the car passenger suffered a bruise to the left radial wrist joint.

On 22.09.2018 at 17:10, a collision between a motorcycle and train No. 2843 occurred at railway crossing 688 km pk 7. The motorcycle driver died at the scene from the injuries sustained, and the passenger was hospitalized.

The investigation into this incident established that the motorcycle was traveling at a speed exceeding 90 km/h, and the motorcycle driver did not take into account the road conditions, did not consider the increased braking distance on a wet road surface, and therefore caused the collision.

Over the past year, the Vitebsk Department of Internal Affairs on Transport has brought 750 (827) individuals to administrative responsibility for crossing railway tracks at an unauthorized location (Orsha Department of Internal Affairs on Transport – 731 (663)).

For violating the rules of crossing railway crossings, 58 (51) individuals were brought to administrative responsibility in 2018, including 17 (17) individuals in the Vitebsk transport region and 41 (34) individuals in the Orsha region.

Such tragedies can be avoided.

The Vitebsk Transport Prosecutor's Office draws attention to the need to observe elementary rules when on the facilities of the Belarusian Railway:

- cross railway tracks only in designated areas;

- do not cross or run across tracks in front of closely approaching rolling stock;

- do not crawl under rolling stock or climb over automatic couplers between wagons;

- do not be on railway transport facilities while intoxicated.

Assistant to the Vitebsk
Transport Prosecutor
2nd Class Lawyer I.A. Ryzhko

Assistant to the Vitebsk
Transport Prosecutor
1st Class Lawyer D.V. Kubrakov