New statistics show how quickly complacency can seep in when it comes to safety around railways.

Victoria’s Metro train service has previously reported the success of its award-winning ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ campaign, which used humour and catchy music to drive home the life-saving message of railway safety. The number of near-misses on Melbourne’s rail network dropped 30 per cent after the campaign launched in 2012, but now figures suggest people have forgotten the important message and gone back to their old unsafe ways.

Near-misses on Melbourne train tracks have increased 14 per cent in the first half of this year, with 81 close calls between a train and pedestrian and 85 near misses with a vehicle. The statistics show nearly one reported case per day where are person or car is close to be ploughed-over by a passing train. Happily, people are getting better at not driving into trains, with the number of actual collisions dropping from four to nine.

Metro officials say they will judge whether the message has stuck after a full year has passed, a spokesperson said the railway would: “conduct a full analysis of near misses with pedestrians and vehicles once 12 months has passed since the campaign launch, so that we can compare year-on-year to determine if there's been a positive reduction in dangerous behaviour around trains.”

Safety experts from some Melbourne universities say it may take a full year to gauge whether people really have forgotten the message so quickly. Anecdotal reports say people still make reference to the advertisements and sing the associated songs; further investigation will tell whether the message has been as effective as the medium.