Pedestrian railroad accidents are the leading cause of death on railways. More than 7,200 pedestrians have been killed by trains in the United States since 1997. An additional 6,400 have been injured. Each year on average about 500 are killed.

In the United States, approximately 2,100 to 2,300 people are involved in rail-related incidents (including vehicle collisions at crossings and pedestrian trespassing) each year. According to preliminary Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) data for 2025 and early 2026, there were roughly 1,870 highway-rail grade crossing collisions resulting in about 247 fatalities. However, the more frequent and tragic statistic involves trespassing, which remains the leading cause of rail-related deaths. When combining crossing accidents and trespassing incidents, the total number of "strikes" (people or vehicles hit by trains) often fluctuates around the 2,000 mark. Organizations like Operation Lifesaver note that a person or vehicle is hit by a train roughly every three hours in the U.S. By 2026, increased "Safety Blitzes" and technological improvements in crossing signals have sought to reduce these numbers, but trespassing on tracks remains a significant national safety challenge.