MTA ads plead for caution

The MTA launched a new ad campaign Wednesday to prevent collisions between commuter trains and drivers or pedestrians.

“Wait for the gate,” reads one video ad before it shows a train hitting a car on the tracks. “Isn’t your life worth the wait?”

Other ads show a man with a fishing pole about to be hit by a train, as well as a rushed, briefcase toting man about to be struck.

Some of the ads will show up on Google maps and other tripplanning Web sites if a trip route goes over a railroad crossing.

They’ll be shown in movie theaters starting Thursday, and appear in newspapers beginning June 22.

Six people were killed and 15 hurt in February when an SUV stopped on the tracks in Westchester and was hit by a MetroNorth train.

The Valhalla crash dislodged the third rail, which tore through the front car.

Five passengers were killed, as was the mom of three who was in the SUV.

The MTA noted on Wednesday that the force of a train hitting a car is comparable to a car running over a soda can.

It takes at least 600 feet for a MetroNorth or LIRR train to stop if it is traveling at 55 mph, the MTA added.