Rail suicide

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Health notice This article is about suicide. For those at risk, there is a wide network of offers of help in which ways out are shown. In acute emergencies, the telephone counseling and the European emergency number 112 can be reached continuously and free of charge. After an initial crisis intervention , qualified referrals can be made to suitable counseling centers on request.

Rail suicide (also railway suicide or railway suicide ) is suicide by a moving rail vehicle .

Risks

In view of the high rate of failed rail suicides (depending on the source, a tenth to a third), rail suicide is considered unsafe. The survivors often live on with their limbs severed. There are considerable financial and legal risks for the suicide or his heir, as they are usually liable for compensation. In addition, in contrast to most other possibilities of suicide, rail suicide is a criminal offense due to the dangerous interference in rail traffic . The main difference to suicide in road traffic is that it can usually be disguised as an accident, so there are no legal consequences and there is no risk of stigmatization . The driver is even in premature recognition of the suicide situation due to the long braking distance and the lack of alternative barely able to prevent the rail suicide. This results in severe psychological stress for him, which can result in years of impairment. According to the definition of the Federal Railway Authority (EBA), rail suicide is one of the " dangerous events ".

Prevention

Suicide prevention is carried out by numerous organizations. The majority of these organizations are represented in the German and Austrian Society for Suicide Prevention, as an umbrella organization for all persons and institutions active in the field of crisis intervention and suicide prevention. The operative prevention work is carried out by numerous independent institutions. The telephone counseling plays a special role due to the nationwide basis.

The prevention of rail suicide varies greatly from region to region. The Swiss Federal Railways , in particular, try to provide as much information as possible about advisory services and thus prevent suicides. Viktor Staudt was particularly active in the prevention of rail suicide , who lost both legs as a result of attempted rail suicide. In his book and in the course of numerous events he tried to show people at risk of suicide a way out.

A press code has been established among journalists in Germany to be reluctant to report on rail suicides and suicides in general. In the past, this form of suicide had accumulated after reports about a rail suicide. In this context, we speak of the Werther effect . The number of incidents after Robert Enke's suicide rose from an average of 2.3 per day to up to 9 and then decreased again after a week and a half, but remained permanently at a higher level than before this suicide. Recommendations for reporting in the media have been drawn up for journalists in order to achieve a maximum preventive effect with minimized cases of imitation.

Also u. A. prevention grounds travelers against suicide-related delays are due, among other things, with phrases such as a "personal accident", "personal injury", "accident involving personal injury" or "emergency doctor on the track" - the rail suicide is ground internally usually as personal accident out (PU) . However, this term also includes all other accidents with personal injury, even if they were caused unintentionally by stepping on tracks or intentionally by third parties. At Wiener Linien , the euphemism "passenger illness" is common in the underground area.

In Hong Kong , the number of rail suicides has been significantly reduced by means of platform screen doors in subway stations (“shielding doors”). Such devices are also found in some metro stations in Lausanne , Saint Petersburg , London , Paris , Turin , Beijing , Shanghai , Seoul , Bangkok , Copenhagen and Singapore .

statistics

In the European Union ( EU-28 ) there are 2400 to 2800 rail suicides per year. By far the highest number was recorded in Germany, followed by France, Poland, Great Britain and the Czech Republic.

Between 1976 and 1984 in the Federal Republic of Germany (excluding West Berlin), an annual average of 677 rail suicide attempts and 44 rail suicide attempts were counted. Men were two and a half times more likely to commit rail suicide than women, younger people far more often than older people. In the years 2007 to 2013, the Federal Railway Authority recorded an annual average of 838 rail suicides on mainline railways for the entire Federal Republic of Germany; no information on failed attempts is available. It is assumed that reporting on a known soccer player's rail suicide caused a permanent increase in this type of suicide in accordance with the Werther Effect in Germany. Rail suicides accounted for around 7% of all suicides in Germany between 1991 and 2000 . In 2016, 798 suicides and 91 suicide attempts were registered.

In Austria , the share of rail suicides in all suicides in the period from 1990 to 1994 was 5.7%.

Rail suicides on railways in Germany
year absolute frequency
(cases / year) 		relative frequency
(suicides per million train kilometers)
1976-1984 677
1997-2002 865
2007-2013 838
2007 720 0.686
2008 714 0.684
2009 875 0.872
2010 899 0.871
2011 853 0.802
2012 872 0.840
2013 834 0.806
2014 781 0.749
2015 806 0.774
2016 798 0.748
2017 771 0.719
2018 732 0.675

A study of the industrial accident statistics of Deutsche Bahn in the years 1997 to 2002 with an annual average of 865 suicides and 90 non-fatal suicide attempts (9% survived) showed a south-north divide with the highest rates in Bavaria , Baden-Württemberg and Hesse . Two thirds of these suicide attempts occurred on the open road and one third in the train station area . 16 “places of high suicide density” with an average of one rail suicide attempt per year (or more, up to 5 per year) were identified within one kilometer of the route, 12 of them in the immediate vicinity of psychiatric clinics. 2.7 times more men than women attempted rail suicide. Affected women were significantly older than affected men. Particular clusters were found on Monday and Tuesday as well as between April and September during the year. According to its own information, DB Regio records an average of one personal accident per day. According to information from Deutsche Bahn, a train driver has to cope with an average of two to three suicides in his professional life.

In 2013, there were 123 rail suicides in the network of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and a further 64 people survived their attempt at rail suicide (33%) with some very serious injuries. The share of rail suicides in all suicides in Switzerland was 11%. In 2014, 139 suicides and 81 suicide attempts were counted. According to further SBB information, an average of 180 suicides occur on Switzerland's 3,000-kilometer rail network each year. In 2003, 90 rail suicides occurred in Switzerland.

In Austria, 95 rail suicides were counted in 2015, in 2016 there were 99. In addition, there are twelve or five suicide attempts.

A total of 310 rail suicides were counted in Great Britain in 2014, compared to 294 in 2015. In the USA between 300 and 500 people die each year as a result of rail suicide, in Sweden around 60 people in 2000. The number of deaths in Swedish rail traffic in 2002 was 192, 145 of which were classified as clear suicides. In 1997, 100 cases were counted in the Paris metro network . Rail suicide is considered the leading cause of death for men under 50 in the UK.

consequences

Consequences for those involved

Affected train drivers are exposed to considerable psychological stress as direct eyewitnesses to rail suicide. Usually they recognize the suicide intention from a great distance; the long braking distance of rail vehicles usually makes it impossible to stop the train in time. You experience the injury or death of the suicide immediately. The pressure of the steel wheels often crushes the bones into a pulpy mass, which greatly disfigures the corpses. However, other abnormal changes in the body can also cause high levels of shock to the driver, for example unnatural positions of the limbs , amputations , decapitations and other body cuts and severances. Many show an acute stress reaction . Various railway companies provide train drivers concerned the respective working from the rest of the insert freely and gradually it for a number of days as labor or incapacitated one. A psychotherapy or pastoral care can help the experienced trauma to process. The acute reaction can turn into impairment for months or years.

Even if there is no acute stress reaction, a post-traumatic stress disorder can develop later, even after months , which is associated with permanent incapacity for work. In many rescue service areas, the train driver is initially looked after by the emergency service crisis intervention to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder. Rail suicide can also be a particular burden for passengers, passers-by, rescue and funeral workers as well as maintenance and repair personnel.

Consequences for rail operations

disinfecting -acting bleaching powder for a rail suicide

After a rail suicide, the affected railway line is usually temporarily closed for police investigations. This often has a significant impact on rail traffic; the rerouting of trains causes delays and the cancellation of stops. After the suicide has been rescued - dead or injured - and the investigation is over, it will be released again. In addition, cleaning, for example with the help of chlorinated lime , may be necessary.

In 2013, according to Deutsche Bahn, 30 train drivers lost their suitability for the job as a result of traumatic events. According to the company, around 25 psychologists from one contract partner offer long-term support. Deutsche Bahn and the Union of German Locomotive Drivers (GDL) agreed on new regulations for train drivers for the first time on April 10, 2014. They should continue to receive their full salary in the event of occupational disability after a rail suicide. This created binding protective provisions for locomotive drivers in the rail transport market who, among other things, can no longer drive trains due to traumatic events.

On July 1, 2015, the GDL renewed the collective agreement with the employers' and trade association of mobility and transport service providers (Agv MoVe) on special conditions in the event of loss of driver's fitness (FDU-TV). The contract could be terminated on December 31, 2016 at the earliest. The contracting parties wanted to negotiate in the first quarter of 2017 on the findings from the implementation that had taken place up to then.

history

One of the first to investigate the topic of rail suicide was the Saxon railway engineer and director Max Maria von Weber in 1854 .

The Prussian State Railways held counting cards for suicides with which the suicides in their area of ​​responsibility were statistically recorded.

Rail suicide plays a crucial role in the novel Anna Karenina (1875) by Leo Tolstoy and in the German television series Tod einer Schüler (1980).

Legal

If the suicide unlawfully and culpably endangers the life or limb of another person or property of significant value (e.g. the vehicle), he is liable to prosecution for dangerous interference with rail traffic ( Section 315  StGB ). Only if the suicidal person dies does this constitute an obstacle to persecution , which leads to the termination of the proceedings according to Section 260  (III) StPO .

In principle, the suicide and his heirs (provided they do not refuse the inheritance) are liable to pay compensation for damage caused by rail suicide or his attempt . The possibilities of compensation are very extensive, for example costs incurred due to incapacity for work, passenger compensation in the event of delays, vehicle damage, train diversions and additional trains can be claimed. Whether the compensation is claimed depends on the behavior of the various railway undertakings concerned , the railway infrastructure operator , the train drivers , possibly the transport association and other parties involved. Due to the large number of participants, the amount of the claim for damages for the suicides concerned or their heirs is difficult to predict, but the Deutsche Bahn AG often waives its claims. The first affected train drivers have already successfully claimed compensation. In individual cases, however, it must be checked whether the suicide was at the time of the act - for example due to a serious mental illness - in a state of inability to commit a crime according to § 827 BGB . In addition, the question of intent must be clarified - whether the suicide expected to harm someone else. In specific cases, settlements have been reached in court .

See also

literature

  • Natalia Erazo: On the epidemiology of railway suicide with special consideration of the gender effect on time, place and outcome of events. Dissertation, LMU Munich, 2006 ( PDF; 1.1 MB ).
  • Natalia Erazo et al. a .: Suicide prevention in the railway sector. Suizidprophylaxe 32.3 / 4 (2005), pp. 119–123 ( PDF; 3.1 MB ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c N. Erazo, J. Baumert, KH Ladwig: Regional and local distribution patterns of railway suicides. In: The neurologist. Volume 75, Number 11, November 2004, pp. 1099-1106, ISSN  0028-2804 . doi: 10.1007 / s00115-004-1703-x . PMID 15549217 .
  2. ↑ a b c He threw himself in front of the train because of depression - and survived . In: az Aargauer Zeitung . ( aargauerzeitung.ch [accessed on October 27, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b R. Schimmel, Trauma after rail suicide. The right of the train driver to claim damages from the heirs . Legal Tribune online, July 27, 2011, accessed November 12, 2012.
  4. ↑ Saskia Gauthier, Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross, Thomas Reisch, Christine Bartsch: suicides by road. (PDF) Retrieved January 23, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Suicide prevention: General. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Suicide prophylaxis: for those affected and their relatives. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
  7. ^ Suicide prevention: Help offers. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Suicide prevention: speak up, listen and get help! | SBB. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Aachener Nachrichten: Mental Illnesses: Depression and Suicide Attempt Survived: Viktor Staudt fights against the taboo. Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Claudia Becker: Viktor Staudt: Book about failed suicide attempt . In: THE WORLD . September 10, 2014 ( welt.de ).
  11. ↑ a b German Society for Suicide Prevention - Help in Life Crises e. V .: Recommendations for media coverage. (PDF) Retrieved December 5, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Stadtwerke München ( Memento from November 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 115 kB)
  13. ↑ on the subject of "Suicide" ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 40 kB) University of Hamburg @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uke.uni-hamburg.de
  14. ↑ Christoph Cadenbach: The Enke Effect . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin , issue 07/2010
  15. ↑ a b Martin Niewendick: The Enke Effect . In: Der Tagesspiegel . No. 22743 , April 29, 2016, p. 27 ( online ).
  16. ↑ CK Law, PS Yip, WS Chan, KW Fu, PW Wong, YW Law: Evaluating the effectiveness of barrier installation for preventing railway suicides in Hong Kong. In: Journal of affective disorders. Volume 114, Numbers 1-3, April 2009, pp. 254-262, ISSN  1573-2517 . doi: 10.1016 / j.jad.2008.07.021 . PMID 18789825 .
  17. ↑ a b Barriers and glass doors: Danger zone train station: Can Germany learn from abroad? , Zeit Online, July 30, 2019
  18. ↑ in 2015 2762 European Railway Agency (ed.): Railway Safety in the European Union Safety overview 2017 . S. 22 f . ( PDF file ).
  19. ↑ In the years 2007 to 2010 the values ​​were between 2422 and 2773 suicides. European Railway Agency (Ed.): Railway Safety Performance in the European Union 2012 . S. 49 ( PDF file ).
  20. ^ A. Schmidtke: Suicidal behavior on railways in the FRG . In: Social Science & Medicine , No. 3, February 1994, pp. 419-426. doi: 10.1016 / 0277-9536 (94) 90441-3
  21. ↑ Safety reports of the Federal Railway Authority for the years 2007 to 2013; see footnotes.
  22. ↑ J. Baumert, N. Erazo, KH Ladwig: Ten-year incidence and time trends of railway suicides in Germany from 1991 to 2000. In: European Journal of Public Health Volume 16, Number 2, April 2006, pp. 173-178 , ISSN  1101-1262 . doi: 10.1093 / eurpub / cki060 . PMID 16093307 .
  23. ↑ a b Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt in accordance with Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2016 . September 30, 2017, p. 27 ( PDF file ).
  24. ^ EA Deisenhammer, G. Kemmler, C. De Col, WW Fleischhacker, H. Hinterhuber: Eisenbahnsuizide und -suizidversuche in Österreich from 1990-1994. In: The neurologist. Volume 68, Number 1, January 1997, pp. 67-73, ISSN  0028-2804 . PMID 9132623 .
  25. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt in accordance with Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2007 . September 30, 2008, p. 44 ( PDF file ).
  26. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt in accordance with Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2008 . August 31, 2009, p. 42 ( PDF file ).
  27. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2009 . August 31, 2010, p. 36 ( PDF file ).
  28. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2010 . August 31, 2011, p. 37 ( PDF file ).
  29. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt in accordance with Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2011 . August 31, 2012, p. 37 ( PDF file ).
  30. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2012 . August 31, 2013, p. 42 ( PDF file ).
  31. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2013 . August 31, 2014, p. 39 ( PDF file ).
  32. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2014 . September 15, 2015, p. 31 ( PDF file ).
  33. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2015 . September 30, 2016, p. 30 ( PDF file ).
  34. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2017 . September 30, 2018, p. 29 ( bund.de [PDF]).
  35. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Report of the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt according to Article 18 of the Directive on Railway Safety in the Community (Directive 2004/49 / EC, "Safety Directive") on the activities as a safety authority: reporting year 2018 . August 30, 2019, p. 32 ( bund.de [PDF]).
  36. ^ N. Erazo, J. Baumert, KH Ladwig: Sex-specific time patterns of suicidal acts on the German railway system. An analysis of 4003 cases. In: Journal of affective disorders. Volume 83, Number 1, November 2004, pp. 1-9, ISSN  0165-0327 . doi: 10.1016 / j.jad.2004.04.012 . PMID 15546640 .
  37. ↑ Saskia Ehmann, Laura Heilig: Care after traumatic events . In: Your train . tape 44 , no. 5 , 2016, ISSN  0948-7263 , p. 32-33 .
  38. ↑ Doreen Reinhard: A bang, then dead silence . In: Chemnitzer Zeitung . November 25, 2014, p. 3 .
  39. ^ SBB: Every third attempt at suicide by rail does not end fatally. In: Aargauer Zeitung. March 30, 2014, accessed February 12, 2016 .
  40. ↑ Personal accident . bazonline.ch, June 16, 2015; accessed on November 17, 2017.
  41. ↑ SBB wants fewer suicides on train tracks . srf.ch, May 6, 2015; accessed on November 17, 2017.
  42. ↑ BMVIT annual report 2016 on railway safety . In: Railway Austria . No. 3 , 2018, p. 138 f .
  43. ^ Eighth year without train accident fatalities. In: railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette, March 9, 2016, accessed March 11, 2016 .
  44. ^ Boston.com, Shining a spotlight on suicide by train
  45. ↑ Självmord problem för Banverket on svd.se (Swedish)
  46. ^ Jörg Schütte: The automation system of the Météor line in Paris . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . November 1997, p. 542-547 .
  47. ^ Freightliner Class 66 named You Are Never Alone . In: The Railway Magazine . No. December 12 , 2019, ISSN  0033-8923 , ZDB -ID 427628-0 , p. 9 .
  48. ↑ Frank Junghänel: The last moment. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . November 29, 2009.
  49. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG (Ed.): DB on the conversation of the GDL: The union continues to dispense with job security for everyone without any need . Press release from January 10, 2014.
  50. ↑ Andreas Frei: The suffering of the train driver: Living with the catastrophe . In: Augsburger Allgemeine . September 9, 2013 ( online ).
  51. ^ Bahn and GDL agree on collective agreement: Better protection for train drivers ( Memento from March 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  52. ↑ Lars Becker: Unusual process: train driver receives compensation for pain and suffering Merkur , April 24, 2015
  53. ↑ The Employers' and Business Association of Mobility and Transport Service Providers e. V. ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Internet presence, accessed on March 5, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / agv-move.net
  54. ↑ Collective agreement on special conditions in the event of loss of fitness for a driver service (FDU-TV) ( Memento of the original dated August 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. GDL website, accessed on March 5, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / uploads.gdl.de
  55. ↑ § 14 No. 1 and 5 FDU-TV
  56. ↑ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Collection of the published official gazettes from June 23, 1900. Volume 4, No. 29. Announcement No. 261, p. 204.
  57. ↑ a b c Elisabeth Brockmann, Lisa Höfflin, Chris Paul, Lutz Weiberle: Suizid und Recht. (PDF) Retrieved November 7, 2018 .
  58. ↑ Doreen Reinhard: A bang, then dead silence . In: Chemnitzer Zeitung . November 25, 2014, p. 3 .
  59. ^ After suicide of a young person: Train driver receives compensation for pain and suffering from parents , faz.net, September 19, 2011, accessed February 16, 2014
  60. ↑ 15,000 euros for train drivers , May 17, 2013, accessed February 16, 2014