In case it wasn’t dangerous enough to be drinking and driving, it seems that it can be dangerous to drink and take the train. This is because sometimes when you’re drunk, you might stumble over the edge and onto the tracks and well, the rest is history, unless of course your train stations have a barrier.
However not all stations have barriers and over in Japan, Japanese railway company JR West has recently installed surveillance cameras onto its train platforms. While surveillance cameras aren’t new, these cameras actually come with the ability to spot drunk commuters. It has been designed to spot signs of drunkenness.
This includes sitting on a bench for too long or stumbling around the platform. When the camera detects possible drunken behavior, it will alert a station attendant who will then go over to see if that person might need any help, or at least keep a watchful eye over them to ensure that they don’t stumble their way into oncoming trains.
At the moment these surveillance cameras appear to be a trial program as they are only installed at the Kyobashi Station in Osaka. However it has been suggested that if successful, it is possible that JR West could consider installing more cameras across their stations in the future.
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