Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of pre-crash behaviour in railway suicides and the effect of corridor fencing
T2 - a natural experiment in New South Wales
AU - Gregor, Shirley
AU - Beavan, Gary
AU - Culbert, Adrian
AU - Kan John, Priscilla
AU - Ngo, Nguyen Viet
AU - Keating, Byron
AU - Sun, Ruonan
AU - Radwan, Ibrahim
PY - 2019/10/2
Y1 - 2019/10/2
N2 - Suicides on railway systems remain a significant concern world-wide. Understanding patterns of pre-crash behaviour, whether jumping, lying or wandering on tracks, is important for the design of preventative measures, yet prior studies have reported divergent patterns of behaviour. This study tested the hypothesis that higher standards of corridor fencing reduce the proportion of train suicides in the non-jumping category. Data was analyzed as a natural experiment for 171 cases of apparent railway suicides in New South Wales (NSW) for the period 2011–2018. Results were congruent with the hypothesis. A higher level of corridor fencing in metropolitan Sydney was associated with a lower proportion in the non-jumping category (33%) compared with regional areas (74%). The article contributes by showing that: (i) fencing appears to lead to a reduction in some types of rail suicides and thus; (ii) contributes to a lower overall rate of suicide by train; and (iii) even with fencing, the non-jumping incidents warrant attention for appropriate countermeasures.
AB - Suicides on railway systems remain a significant concern world-wide. Understanding patterns of pre-crash behaviour, whether jumping, lying or wandering on tracks, is important for the design of preventative measures, yet prior studies have reported divergent patterns of behaviour. This study tested the hypothesis that higher standards of corridor fencing reduce the proportion of train suicides in the non-jumping category. Data was analyzed as a natural experiment for 171 cases of apparent railway suicides in New South Wales (NSW) for the period 2011–2018. Results were congruent with the hypothesis. A higher level of corridor fencing in metropolitan Sydney was associated with a lower proportion in the non-jumping category (33%) compared with regional areas (74%). The article contributes by showing that: (i) fencing appears to lead to a reduction in some types of rail suicides and thus; (ii) contributes to a lower overall rate of suicide by train; and (iii) even with fencing, the non-jumping incidents warrant attention for appropriate countermeasures.
KW - Railway
KW - suicide
KW - prevention
KW - pre-crash behaviour
KW - accident
KW - railway corridor fencing
KW - socio-environmental factors
U2 - 10.1080/17457300.2019.1660376
DO - 10.1080/17457300.2019.1660376
M3 - Journal article
VL - 26
SP - 423
EP - 430
JO - International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion
JF - International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion
SN - 1745-7319
IS - 4
ER -