Rail crossings

Every year, Canadians die in railway crossing and trespassing incidents, most of which are preventable. Here are some simple things you can do to prevent injuries and deaths on the tracks:

• Obey the signals. Last year, 38 people died and another 54 were seriously injured at rail crossings. Never attempt to drive under a gate as it is closing, or around a closed gate. If the gate begins to close while you’re driving over a crossing, keep moving until you’ve cleared the crossing.
• Listen for warning bells and whistles. Turn off distractions like radios, fans and heaters. Ask the kids to be quiet until the crossing is safely crossed, and open the window to help you hear.
• Be prepared to stop at all railway crossings without signals. It is very important to look carefully for any approaching trains. It is very difficult to accurately judge how far away a train is and how fast it is traveling. Trains cannot stop quickly. A train traveling at 100 km/h requires the length of 14 football fields to stop and it cannot swerve to avoid you.
• Walking or playing on railway tracks is not only dangerous, it’s against the law. The only safe place to cross the tracks is at a railway crossing.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 11:40 am and is filed under Tips for travellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.