A New Year’s Wish from Operation Lifesaver

A new year is a chance to start healthier routines and habits. Many of us are vowing to exercise more, eat better, or get more sleep in 2024. But Operation Lifesaver is also asking Canadians across the country to add another New Year’s resolution to their list: to be rail safe.
 
Over the past decade, some 1,200 Canadians have been killed or seriously injured because they engaged in unsafe behaviour around railway tracks and trains. Sadly, almost every one of these incidents was preventable.
 
Let’s make 2024 a rail safe year by working together to prevent these incidents. Read the following rules, obey them, and share them with your friends and family:
 

• Stay Off the Tracks: Never walk, cycle or drive along railway tracks—and never use them as a shortcut.

 

• Keep Off All Railway Property: Railway yards, tunnels and bridges are all private property. If you are caught trespassing on them, you could be fined up to $50,000.

 

• Put Your Phone Down:  Whether you’re driving or walking near railway tracks, being distracted can keep you from seeing a train from coming.

 

• Keep One Ear Out: You can’t avoid getting hit by a train if you don’t hear it coming. When wearing headphones, keep one ear out near railway crossings.

 

• Use Only Designated Railway Crossings: Trying to cross tracks anywhere else could be deadly.

 

• Obey All Railway Signs and Signals:  Warning signals and signs are there for a reason, to save lives. So, obey them!

 

• Keep a Safe Distance from Tracks: Trains can overhang the tracks by as much as 1 metre on each side. So, stay clear.

 
Wishing you a happy, healthy and rail safe 2024.