1. Rail Trespassing and Suicide- United States
What We Know and What We Don’t
Kurt Topel
Presentation at ILCAD 2017 – Montreal

2. Overview Importance Characteristics of Rail Trespassing
Characteristics of Rail Suicide
Gaps in Literature

3. Definitions Trespasser Suicides
Persons who are on the part of RR property used in RR operation and whose presence is prohibited, forbidden, or unlawful”
AND are NOT at Highway-Rail Crossings
Suicides
Persons (almost always trespassers) who have been deemed to have completed a suicide while on RR property as “determined by a coroner, public police officer, or other public authority”

4. U.S. Average Annual Railroad Fatalities 2012-2015

5. Annual Railroad Fatalities Since 1975

6. Intentions of Trespassers
Station Trespassing
Shortcuts
Underestimation of Risks
Recreation
Photography
Theft, Vandalism, and Graffiti
Ignorance of Risks

7. Shortcuts

8. Photography

9. Rail Trespassing Fatalities
Minimal research, except by FRA
4:1 Ratio Males : Females
Median Age Middle 30’s
More in Good Weather
Risk Factors:
Alcohol
Distraction

10. Rail Trespasser vs Suicide Numbers
June 2011 FRA Reporting Change
“Fuzzy” Line Between U.S. Trespassers and Suicides
Comparison to Europe
Suicides counted and studied for longer
Most Fatalities are T&S, but in different proportions
Firearms and Ovenstone

11. Rail Suicide Very Little U.S. Research, except FRA “extracts”
3.5:1 Ratio Males : Females, = ratio for all Suicide
Median Age Upper 30’s- < age 50’s all Suicide
Usually on scheduled lines, higher traffic, with peak in afternoon & evening
Risk Factors:
Mental Illness/Alcohol/Drugs
Availability of ROW to residence
Lack of Access to Firearms

12. Gaps Empirical Countermeasure Effectiveness Economic Externalities
Dearth of U.S. Research
Apparent Obstacles to Addressing the Problem
Detection and Response