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For the safety of drivers, pedestrians and trains’ passengers, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. – the national railway infrastructure manager in Poland, in June 2018 marked 14,000 railroad crossings and pedestrian crossings with yellow stickers. They are located on the boom barriers or on the Saint Andrew’s Crosses from the side of the rails. The entire project is rapid information system for railway services about the risk on level crossings and tracks. In many cases, the yellow sticker saved lives. If a car breaks down at the crossing or tracks are blocked, the information on the sticker can help prevent a tragedy. The initiative was carried out as part of the “Safe Passage” social campaign, co-financed by the European Union from the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment.
Stress. A deadly threat. Fight against time. When the driver of a car, due to recklessness or non-compliance with the regulations, gets stuck between the barriers or his vehicle becomes immobilized at the rail-road crossing, every second is worth their weight in gold. This precious time gives drivers the flagship project of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A., that is #YellowStickerPLK.
How works #YellowStickerPLK?
There are three basic data on the yellow sticker placed on the crossing: individual identification number of the rail-road crossing, emergency number 112, “emergency” numbers.
Individual identification number of a rail-road crossing – assigned to a specific crossing (it is the number of the railway line and km). Thanks to it, during the intervention, the operator of 112 number quickly locates the crossing on the railway network and in the field. The use of the Yellow Sticker can speed up the stopping of the train at a safe distance from the crossing and prevent a tragedy.
Emergency number 112 – is used to report accidents, car breakdowns on the crossing or obstacles on the tracks.
Technical numbers “in case of breakdown” – these are the numbers to inform the railway dispatcher on the premises of a specific railway line plant about a breakdown of equipment, damage of the railroad crossing marking, if there is no immediate threat to life.
The process of reporting an incident on a railroad crossing:
- In the event of an incident, breakdown at the railroad crossing, the driver calls the emergency number 112, report the threat and provides an individual crossing number that is on the Yellow Sticker.
- The 112 operator calls the branch of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A.
- The branch issues an order to stop the traffic or limit the speed of trains.
- The traffic is suspended / the speed limit of trains within the actual route is suspended, thanks to the information provided on the Yellow Sticker.
SEE HOW PLK YELLOW STICKER WORKS Animation (EN subtitles):
Important information that saves lives.
From the start in June 1, 2018, the operators of the emergency number 112 received over 16.5 thousand of notifications regarding potential threats at railroad crossings and railway areas. In nearly 500 cases, after a phone call with providing the number of the crossing where there was a threat to life and communication problems, train traffic on the railway line was stopped and help was called. With over 1,100 reports, the speed of trains was limited to ensure the safety of passengers and users of railroad crossings. Year by year, the use of sticker information is increasing. This suggests that the knowledge of the PLK Yellow Sticker is growing, and the use of the 112 emergency number is more and more frequent. Thanks to this, the chance to provide help increases.
Barrier on risk
Statistics show that 99% of all incidents at railroad crossings in Poland result from the reckless of drivers and non-compliance with the regulations.
The basic mistakes leading to the tragedy at the crossings are: ignoring the stop sign, driving under closing gates, avoiding half-barriers with a slalom, blocking the crossing by entering the tracks without the possibility of exiting, improper behaviour when the car is immobilized on the tracks.
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. since 2005, has been running the “Safe Crossing” social campaign, aimed to increase awareness among drivers. Only abide by the regulations can guarantee safety at railroad crossings, but when the driver makes a mistake and finds himself in a no-exit situation, the # YellowStickerPLK acts as a life ring. The project intendeds to reduce the number of accidents and shorten the time of response of relevant services.
#YellowStickerPLK with world awards
In June 2021, the “Safe Crossing” social campaign was awarded in the largest international competition of the Public Relation industry – SABER Awards 2021 (Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation & Engagement), which has been organized since 2008 by PRovoke Media. The project “# YellowStickerPLK that saves lives” won in the regional category “The Baltic”. In September 2021, the project was awarded one of the world’s leading marketing awards – Stevie® Awards: bronze statuette in the category “Communications or PR Campaign of the Year – Public Service” for promoting safety with the help of #YellowStickerPLK. Another awarded was granted in the PR Wings competition promoting an innovative, creative and ethical approach to communication and public relations. The # YellowstickerPLK project – the first sticker that saves human life, won in the “CSR – The greatest social impact” category.
More about the project #YellowStickerPLK:
PL: https://www.bezpieczny-przejazd.pl/zolta-naklejka/
EN: https://bezpieczny-przejazd.pl/en/yellow-sticker/
