It’s the time of year all kids love—summer! School’s out and they have two months of freedom to look forward to. But since kids are more likely to be roaming free during July and August, there’s also a greater chance that they might come into contact with railway tracks or trains. That makes now the perfect time to ensure they know the rail safety rules.
Children don’t instinctively understand the hazards around tracks and trains—and tragedies can happen if they don’t know how to act safely. Taking the time to provide them with age-appropriate information can make all the difference.
"Whether kids are out walking, skateboarding, or riding a bike, they need to know how to keep themselves safe around tracks and trains," says Sarah Mayes, National Director of Operation Lifesaver (OL) Canada. "That means staying well away from railways, obeying all railway signs and signals, and remembering to only cross tracks at designated crossings."
It’s all about making rail safety fun
Learning about rail safety doesn’t need to be a chore. OL’s website offers parents and caregivers a range of resources to teach kids how to stay safe in a fun and engaging way.
Our Thomas & FriendsTM rail safety storybook—
Stay Safe with Thomas—allows children to follow along with Thomas as he learns valuable lessons about the dangers of not stopping at rail crossings or standing too close to the platform edge at rail stations.
OL’s storybook-style presentation,
Train and the Whateveritwas, is another great resource. Through a colourful and engaging six-minute animated story, children are encouraged to stay rail-safe by heeding a simple, but important, message: “Train or Track? Just Keep Back!”
For older children, there are our
Seriously. Read the Signs. videos. Each minute-long animated video features Reb (short for “Rebel”), a mischievous character who routinely breaks the rules (especially ones posted on signs). The videos help drive home the point that while it might be easy to ignore signs—or to think that they don’t apply to you—not following them can have unintended consequences. It can even cost you your life.
Doing your part to keep kids safe
But children aren’t the only ones who need to follow the rail safety rules. We all have a role to play in when it comes to safety. By modelling safe behaviour around tracks and trains, you can teach the children in your life how to stay safe.
So why not take the time to brush up on the rail safety basics? You can find all the resources you need on our
website. Let’s work together to make this summer a fun and safe one for all Canadians.