(The following story by Heather Ibbotson appeared on the Brantford Expositor website on April 28, 2009.)
BRANTFORD, Ontario — Complacency can kill. So can speed, and even trespassing.
Alerting motorists to railway crossing safety and highlighting the dangers of trespassing is the aim of Rail Safety Week across Canada, which runs through to Sunday.
Target Zero is a public awareness campaign with the ultimate goal of reducing trespassing and railway crossing accidents to zero.
“No one wins going up against a train,” said CN Const. Bill Casner.
Casner and CN Const. Colin Philbey were stationed on Monday morning near the level rail crossing on Powerline Road, northeast of Brantford, handing out rail safety pamphlets to passing motorists.
“We want to avoid tragedy and keep people safe,” Casner said.
Last year, there were 287 accidents across Canada that resulted in 73 fatalities and 56 serious injuries in railway grade crossing and trespassing incidents, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Motorists need to slow down when approaching railway crossings, Philbey said. Speeding drivers cannot react fast enough to avoid disaster, he said, adding that the problem of excessive speed is especially notable in rural areas.
In 2008, there were 214 accidents at railway crossings across Canada that resulted in 26 deaths and 22 serious injuries.
The Transportation Safety Board indicates that nearly half of collisions between vehicles and trains across Canada happened at crossings with active warning devices, including gates, lights or bells.
Driver complacency is another factor in motorist/train collisions.
People who live near a rail crossing can become complacent about safety, Casner said.
Most highway/railway crossing collisions involve drivers living within 40 km of the location of the collision, according to Operation Lifesaver, a project of the Railway Association of Canada and Transport Canada.
Impatient drivers may fail to wait until safety gates are fully upright before attempting to cross, Casner said.
However, trains can run at any time and double tracks can carry fatal surprises when one train blocks the view of another or a motorist fails to realize that two trains are travelling past in opposite directions.
Trespassing on or beside railway tracks is another safety hazard.
Last year, across Canada, there were 73 trespassing incidents that resulted in 47 deaths and 20 serious injuries.
Trespassing can include walking, playing or running on or beside railway tracks; riding a bicycle or driving a car, ATV, snowmobile or any other vehicle on or beside railway tracks; taking a shortcut across railway tracks or property; and entering railway yards.
In Brantford, the installation of a fence has curtailed a great deal of dangerous trespassing at the West Street station, Philbey said.
However, the overall problem of railway property trespassing and its potentially fatal consequences persists.
“You can’t fence the whole railroad,” he said.