Putz

Putz, in his bright pink color, represents the most dangerous railway behavior of all - running across train tracks. His name comes from Yiddish slang meaning "fool," and it perfectly captures the absolute foolishness of thinking you can cross active railway tracks safely. As the final member of the railway safety trio, Putz delivers the campaign's most critical message: there is never a good reason to cross railway tracks except at designated, safe crossings. In the original Dumb Ways to Die video, Putz's death is presented as the climax of the railway safety warnings. After showing the dangers of boom gates (Bonehead) and platform edges (Stumble), the campaign saved the most dangerous behavior for last. The scene is simple but effective - Putz decides to save time by running across the tracks instead of using the pedestrian crossing, and the outcome is immediate and inevitable. What makes Putz's character particularly important for the campaign is that his behavior represents a surprisingly common choice. People see others crossing tracks and assume it's safe, or they're in a hurry and think they can make it, or they simply don't want to walk to the designated crossing. Putz embodies all these rationalizations and shows that none of them are worth the risk. His character serves as the ultimate reminder: no amount of saved time is worth risking your life.

Putz's track-crossing minigame is consistently rated as one of the most challenging in the Dumb Ways to Die series, deliberately reflecting how dangerous this behavior is in real life. The game requires players to make split-second decisions about whether they can safely cross - and more importantly, trains players to resist the temptation to try when it's not safe. In the original game, players must judge the speed and distance of approaching trains while deciding if they have enough time to cross. The game is deliberately designed to make these calculations difficult, creating scenarios where crossing looks possible but isn't. This teaches players that visual estimation of train speed and distance is unreliable - trains travel faster and arrive sooner than they appear to, which is exactly the misjudgment that causes real-world track-crossing accidents. Dumb Ways to Die 2 makes the challenge even more complex by introducing multiple tracks, trains arriving from different directions, and varying train speeds. Some scenarios present clear opportunities to cross safely at designated areas, while others create tempting but dangerous gaps between trains. The game tests whether players have learned the core lesson: the safe choice is always to use designated crossings, even when a shortcut seems possible.