Community Corner

Watch The New NJ Transit Safety Videos Here

Videos are part of a safety initiative launched by transportation company and state committee due to the deaths of three teenagers, including Wayne resident Alan Mendez, last fall.

NJ Transit released two public safety announcement videos June 8 designed to promote railroad track safety.

The videos are a part of a safety initiative launched by NJ Transit and the New Jersey Safety at Railroad Crossings Leadership Oversight Committee, which was convened by James Simpson, commissinoer of the state Department of Transportation after the deaths of three teenagers, including , in October 2011.

Mendez and his friend Nicholas Sabina, 17, of Fairfield, were killed shortly before 10 p.m., Oct. 2 when they were struck on a Wayne train trestle near Route 46. The boys were walking home from the Willowbrook Mall on an overpass.

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Darien Robinson, a then-15-year-old from Little Falls survived the accident by jumping to an embankment below the trestle. 

A third boy from Garfield was killed when he was struck by a train the same week Mendez and his friend were killed.

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In a press release issued by NJ Transit, Simpson describes the videos as "powerful, no-nonsense public service announcements spotlighting the deadly consequences resulting from poor choices made at railroad crossings.

“We previously revamped our safety campaign to provide a real, first-hand account from those impacted by poor choices made along the track, and these tough new ads take this effort to the next level. They offer an unmistakable message – stay off the tracks.”

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.


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