Jeffrey King had turned his life around after getting out of prison, regularly volunteered at a soup kitchen, and attended church on Sundays. Robert Gray was a husband and father of three young children. Conor Scherle was in Florida for his brother’s wedding, and set to be a groomsman at the ceremony.

These are just three of the dozens of people who have lost their lives after being struck by a train in South Florida. In fact, Florida ranks number two (behind only California) for the number of train-related deaths. In 2017, 76 people were killed in Florida, which marked a seven-year high, with a majority of the deaths occurring in South Florida.

SunRail, Brightline, and Tri-Rail trains have been the culprits of several of these deaths. Most of Brightline’s deaths were pedestrians, but some involved peoples’ cars being hit by oncoming trains. Oftentimes, these accidents are a result of an individual’s miscalculation of how much time they have to cross train tracks safely. In other cases, the fatalities are determined to be suicides.

While train companies have been quick to dismiss the fatalities as the victims’ fault, loved ones of the deceased have vocalized their desire to see train companies take more initiative in keeping people away from their tracks. This is particularly true because of the expanding presence of rail lines in Florida, such as Tri-Rail’s anticipated downtown Miami commuter line that will feature 26 daily trips. Moving forward with projects like this, safety will be critically important.

It is not okay that rail lines continuously fail to hold themselves accountable for this obvious public safety threat. It is undeniably time for these companies to prioritize the safety of Florida’s residents and tourists by taking real action to minimize safety hazards for those traveling near train tracks.