Every time a Canadian loses their life in a railway crossing incident, it has a ripple effect. It not only affects the victim, and their family and friends, but it can also have a lasting impact on their entire community. Through the
“Look. Listen. Live.” Community Safety Partnership Program Operation Lifesaver (OL) Canada is working with municipalities to prevent these rail tragedies from happening.
“Sadly, roughly 50 Canadians are killed or seriously injured in rail crossing incidents each year—and almost all of these are preventable,” says Sarah Mayes, National Director, Operation Lifesaver Canada. "The Community Safety Partnership Program’s aim is to make the public more aware of the hazards at rail crossings, so we can prevent these incidents from happening. It’s all about saving lives.”
Through this initiative, OL works with municipalities across the country to install “Look. Listen. Live.” decals or metal signs near rail crossings in their communities. The bright yellow and black decals and signs remind drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists to:
- be extra vigilant before crossing railway tracks;
- obey all railway signs and signals; and to
- look in both directions and listen for trains before crossing the tracks.
Spreading the “Look. Listen. Live” message across Canada
OL started the Community Safety Partnership Program in 2018 as a way to help spread the “Look. Listen. Live.” rail-safety message across the country. Since then, 98 Canadian municipalities have installed the decals or signs at crossings in their communities.
As part of Rail Safety Week (September 18
th to 24
th ,2023) OL is unveiling new decals and signs in 18 communities across the country. In fact, you’ll find the important rail-safety message at crossings everywhere from Revelstoke, B.C. and Weyburn, Sask. to Grand Bay-Westfield, N.B.
The Community Safety Partnership Program is just one of the ways OL is working with communities to reduce preventable rail incidents. To find out more about the program, check out OL’s
website. And why not get your community on board and help us #STOPTrackTragedies?