A teen cyclist was filmed nonchalantly riding over a level crossing as a speeding train missed him by inches.
Footage showed the teenager pedalling across the tracks, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming locomotive.
The train missed him by a fraction of a second just as he made it to the other side.
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Dutch rail infrastructure firm ProRail released the heart-stopping clip as part of a new safety campaign aimed at reducing reckless behaviour among teenagers.
The initiative, named ‘The Unsent Message’, highlights the harsh reality of what happens when a final text or social media post is never sent due to a fatal accident.
Official data reveals a surge in dangerous incidents involving young people at railway crossings, with many distracted by mobile phones or wearing headphones.
In the Netherlands, the number of incidents involving young people doubled from 17% in 2021 to 33% in 2025, with 12 fatalities among those aged between 10 and 29 during that period.
ProRail representatives stated that the cyclist in the footage “crawled through the eye of a needle,” describing his survival as pure luck rather than judgement.
The campaign features emotional testimonies from train drivers who have witnessed near-misses and fatal collisions.
Officials are particularly concerned by a culture of ‘risk-taking’ where pedestrians and cyclists dart under closing barriers to save a couple of minutes on their journey.
The footage has been distributed to schools and social media platforms to shock young commuters into putting their phones away near tracks.
The ‘Unsent Message’ campaign refers to the digital silence that follows a tragedy, leaving families with nothing but an unfinished conversation and a lifetime of regret.
ProRail highlighted two simple rules: always stop for red lights, as trains are faster than they appear, and wait because a second train may be coming, as reported by Need To Know.
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