Adrenaline junkies hanging on to public transport vehicles are risking their lives
AS Tallinna Linnatransport draws attention to the fact that the adrenaline-fueling bus and tram rodeo in other parts of the world has also reached the streets of our capital.
According to Kaido Padari, a member of the management board of TLT, the company is worried about the videos that have appeared on the Internet, where attention-seeking adolescents run to a stopped bus or tram and start riding on it by clinging to its back in order to record their neck-breaking experience with a head camera. “Holding on to the engine cover of the bus with their hands or sitting on the towing hook of the tram, they ride for several stops without realizing that even the smallest mistake is enough, and the fun ride can end with them falling onto the asphalt while the vehicle is at its full speed. Such an extreme hobby is not only life-threatening for adrenaline addicts themselves, but also poses a danger to people in cars following the bus or the tram. A video star crashing onto the road can cause a chain reaction in our busy city traffic, the results of which are unpredictable,” says Padar, describing the dangers of perverted entertainment.
Hannes Falten, the service director of TLT is also worried about the teenagers hanging in the back of public transport vehicles. “It is incomprehensible why one has to risk one’s life or the possibility of remaining in a wheelchair for life,” says the baffled Falten. “Such behavior is irresponsible towards oneself and others. All it takes is a few sharp maneuvers or sudden braking in heavy city traffic, and the bold rider flies onto the roadway, where in the worst-case scenario, he ends up under the wheels of a car approaching from behind.”
TLT urges all citizens of goodwill to notify the police immediately if they notice young people hanging from a bus or tram, and if possible, inform the driver of the bus or the tram to stop the vehicle. However, parents should explain to children how dangerous this activity is and that there is nothing admirable in gambling with one’s own life and the lives of others. By acting together, we can nip the bad behavior in the bud before it has claimed victims.
TLT serves people in Tallinn on a daily basis on 72 buses, 4 trolley and 4 tram lines, with 441 buses, 32 trolleybuses and 47 trams running on them during the rush hours of the working day. More than 300 thousand passengers are served 24 hours a day.
