After dealing with a slew of injuries from major to minor during 2011 and 2012, Melbourne, Australia’s Metro company has put together a video aimed towards young people in the hopes that Melbourne citizens will learn to be safe around trains. In fact, the whole campaign is called “Be Safe Around Trains,” and while it sounds a little juvenile, the black comedy approach is more than a little unsettling, and should make you sit up and pay attention.
“Dumb Ways To Die" features a soothing, singing narrator and a bunch of cutely animated figures, who come to untimely ends by eating pie that is weeks old or by subjecting their private parts to piranhas. It’s actually a little harrowing, but it’s mostly utilized as a means to let the populace know they really need to start trying to be safe around trains. The move comes after 979 slips, trips, and pedestrian falls were recorded and 23 non-suicide related deaths from collisions between people and trains were reported by the company between 2011-2012. There are plenty of dumb ways to die and there is more than one dumb way to die just at the train station.
CBS is reporting the above numbers don’t even include the train and vehicle collisions which accounted for three deaths (and 74 near misses) during the same time period. To check out more from the safety campaign, you can head over to the Dumb Ways To Die website, or check out the above video.
