Back when there were no cell phones, fewer drivers, and life was much simpler, rail safety was shared in few words including “watch the tracks” or “if the lights are flashing, stop.”
Nowadays, with hectic lives, constant distractions, and what seems to be the need to be connected 24/7, rail safety is of greater importance than it ever has been.
Sadly, after years of improved safety and declining incident statistics, there has been a reversal in recent year. A post-pandemic spike in incidents, injuries and fatalities at the 44,000 places where roads cross railways in this country.
In fact, in the first half of this year, crossing incidents were up 14% compared to the average of the previous five years. And this summer there were several incidents that led to people losing their lives.
Education is ageless. We start learning from the time we are born. As we grow, education and learning increase. The one thing that education doesn’t do is end. We are continuously learning about things.
At Operation Lifesaver Canada, the education that we pass along to you is rail safety.
What seems like a simple message – “Look. Listen. Live.” – is a message that will always need to be shared. As you can see from the statistics above, we are not close to our goal of zero incidents. Which means we are not close to zero injuries or zero fatalities.
I speak from lived experience – an experience that I wish on no one. My daughter, Kailynn, was 17 when she lost her life after a vehicle-train collision near Weyburn, SK. Kailynn was looking down at her phone and listening to the music she loved so much blaring from her car stereo. That five-second glance down, and her loud music distracted her from the train that she was about to drive in front of. Six days after the impact, Kailynn died.
I am not an expert. I am just a mom who lost her child who wants to make a difference for other families. Better rail safety education is needed, specifically for new drivers.
Every province has a driver education handbook, but the information surrounding rail safety is sparse. It covers some, don’t get me wrong. But an enhancement is needed in the driver training programs across the country. And that education must be standardized from the west coast to the east coast to ensure all Canadians gain the same knowledge.
Even provinces like PEI who have no railways need to educate their drivers on rail safety in the event they ever leave their home province.
Kailynn was a new driver, not even having her license for a full year. She also was a perfect driver on paper. She received 100% on her road test. That 100% did not save her.
By providing rail safety education to young and new Canadian drivers, we are doing our part to ensure that people live full and successful lives. We are also working to protect the men and women who work daily on the railways from the trauma of experiencing a railway incident.
If I could turn back time, and we were more educated about rail safety in 2018, maybe my life would be different. But time cannot be undone. There is no undo button. Kailynn’s story is proof of that. Help us get to zero.
Sandra LaRose is a road and rail safety speaker who channels profound personal loss into a mission to save lives. Since the death of her daughter Kailynn in 2018, she has shared Kailynn’s Story with thousands across Canada, partnering with organizations like Operation Lifesaver inspire safer choices behind the wheel.
