Georgia has been chosen for this year’s Norfolk Southern railroad safety campaign, “Train Your Brain.” Billboards, like the one above, can be seen throughout central and south Georgia on the I-75 corridor from Macon to Valdosta. A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern says the images are intended to grab attention and the goal of the campaign “is to save lives by educating people that trying to beat a train across the railroad tracks or walking or playing on tracks is potentially deadly and always illegal.”
The company says they chose Georgia because of “the high number of deaths and injuries resulting from vehicle-train and trespassing incidents.” Data from the Federal Railroad Administration ranks Georgia fifth highest in the country in highway-rail crossing collisions and 10th highest in trespassing incidents in 2014. This is the ninth year for the railroad safety campaign, and in addition to billboards, the safety messages will be posted on gas pumps, ice chests at convenience stores and even on homework folders in some elementary schools.