September 21-27 is Rail Safety Week in Canada. Rail safety organizations, like Operation Lifesaver, will be working to raise awareness of rail safety and hopefully decrease the number of rail incidents and fatalities.
Unfortunately this week is especially needed this year, as 5 people died at railway crossings in Manitoba in the past 5 weeks, in three separate incidents.
We need more education for new drivers. We need more enforcement – lots more enforcement. I see far too many incidents like the ones being shared here where cars race the train – or drive around the lowering crossing gates.
People get into bad habits when driving. I don’t want to get into a rant about bad drivers – I could go on and on – but when there’s no train at a crossing 99 times out of 100, that 1% might just kill you.
It’s not just drivers that are a safety concern around railways. Far too many people see crossing railway tracks – or walking along them – as totally OK to do.
Again, education and enforcement are the keys, in my opinion. Groups like Operation Lifesaver work hard to educate people and they deserve our support and encouragement.
Help spread the word by following them on social media and resharing them. Amplify the message and let’s help reduce the number of injuries and fatalities around railways.
Things You Can Do
- Visit Operation Lifesaver’s home page
- Follow OL on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or YouTube
- Follow the hashtag #Railsafety on Twitter and retweet what you find meaningful
- Visit CN’s Safety page
- Visit CP’s Safety page
- Visit my rail safety page
- Speak up and speak out when you see unsafe activities around tracks
A very important message, thank you for sharing!