Music artist Professor Green is encouraging people to stop listening to his music. Why? He’s teamed up with Network Rail for its latest safety campaign asking people to remove their headphones at level crossings so they aren’t distracted from warnings about approaching trains.
*Two people have tragically died this year at footpath crossings where it is thought they were wearing headphones. In the past five years, train drivers or railway staff have reported 19 incidents where pedestrians, joggers or cyclists wearing headphones have crossed the railway, seemingly oblivious to the approaching train.
The new digital campaign– Lose Your Headphones – features the popular rapper in a video which will appear on the music streaming service Spotify as well as being promoted via social media sites such as Twitter. Network Rail is also encouraging people to spread the word about removing headphones by offering a prize of Sonos music speakers to five lucky winners who re-tweet the campaign message.
Professor Green spoke about why he’s supporting the new campaign: “I never imagined asking people to stop listening to my music but this is about staying safe, so just for a minute, I want them to stop. I know it’s very easy to get caught up in a track when you have your headphones on and get distracted from where you are and what’s around you but I’m asking, please, lose your headphones when at a level crossing and pay attention to all the safety warnings. I don’t want anyone to end up on the tracks listening to one of mine.”
The campaign will run over the next four weeks. For more information on Network Rail’s work to reduce risk at level crossings, visit: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/level-crossings/
