(Operation Lifesaver issued the following on May 6.)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Operation Lifesaver (OL), North America’s rail safety education program, will kick off National Transportation Week (May 11-18) with activities in several states, including celebrating National Train Day this coming Saturday.
“We are thrilled that OL’s dedicated volunteers across America are able to join Amtrak in honoring completion of the transcontinental train system,” said Helen Sramek, President of Operation Lifesaver, Inc. “What a fitting way to usher in National Transportation Week.”
Operation Lifesaver will participate at Amtrak’s major National Train Day events in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.’s Union Station, as well as celebrating at smaller events in locations across the country, including:
* Maine: ME OL is helping organize model train exhibits and activities for children at the Children’s Museum in Portland and the Airport Mall in Bangor.
* California: CA OL volunteers will be handing out safety information, staffing booths, and participating in community outreach activities in Fresno and Merced County, as well as at Los Angeles Union Station.
* Ohio: OH OL will be participating at open houses with bands and equipment displays in Toledo and Cincinnati.
* Texas: Participating at Amtrak’s Union Station in Dallas where there will be equipment displays and festivities; at the Intermodal Transportation Center in Fort Worth with train displays and music; and at San Antonio’s Amtrak Station with a Union Pacific Railroad locomotive and static display. May 15 a positive enforcement event will take place in Gainesville with outreach to teen drivers. TX OL will be handing out safety information to train enthusiasts young and old.
During the following week, OL will be intensifying efforts to educate people on how to safely navigate around tracks and on crossings. Examples:
* Arkansas: A week of “Officer on the Train” events will put local law enforcement officers on trains in Paragould, Jonesboro, Wynne, Bald Knob, and Pine Bluff, so they can see first-hand the dangers of unsafe driving and trespassing around trains.
* Oklahoma: OK OL volunteers will participate at Railroad Day in Muskogee on May 17.
* Tennessee: TN OL is unveiling new radio public service announcements geared toward grade crossings and pedestrian safety.
* North Carolina: NC OL is kicking off a week of youth, driver, and professional driver training with a special train on May 12. Amtrak and the North Carolina Department of Transportation will invite educators, law enforcement, members of the media, and community officials on a round trip ride from Raleigh to Greensboro/Rocky Mount, giving them a front seat view of dangerous behaviors along railroad tracks and at grade crossings.
* New Jersey: On May 15, NJ OL, NJ Transit and Amtrak are celebrating “Safety Night” at the Trenton Thunder game with safety messages during the game and public service announcements on the big screen.
* Georgia: In addition to participating in an open house at the Atlanta station on National Train Day, GA OL will join the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw on May 17 and 18 at “All Aboard” Days where visitors will view railroad-related exhibits, including Operation Lifesaver’s Mobile Exhibit Truck and the “General” locomotive steam engine captured during the Civil War. Stone Mountain Park and Six Flags over Georgia in Metropolitan Atlanta will provide visitors with OL railroad safety information and publicize May as “OL Month in Georgia” on their message boards.
Vehicle-train collisions have dropped by more than 75% nationwide since 1972, when Operation Lifesaver began. A variety of safety efforts are credited with this drop, particularly an ongoing safety partnership among federal, state and local governments, law enforcement agencies, traffic safety organizations, railroad companies and OL. This improvement comes despite increases in vehicles on the road, trains on the rails, and the expansion of light rail and commuter rail lines.
“We’ve made great strides, but a single fatality or injury is one too many,” said Sramek. “Our focus for 2008, both during National Transportation Week and every day of the year, is to educate people about the importance of putting safety first whether they’re at a crossing or on or near railroad tracks. This year, we’re stepping up our outreach on pedestrian safety because, too often, pedestrians place themselves in danger walking on or near rail tracks, an activity that is illegal.”
New Operation Lifesaver initiatives include:
* Outreach to at-risk populations such as the homeless living near train tracks.
* Targeting the key demographic of ‘tweens and teens. By establishing partnerships with sports teams, developing a new driver’s education module, producing educational videos featuring real-life teenage spokespersons, and working with scout groups to develop safety badges in parts of the country, OL is reaching out to a key demographic at a time when pedestrian-train collisions continue to remain a major problem.
* Light rail safety. To assist the increasing number of new light rail systems opening or about to open across America, OL certified presenters are offering their safety training as well as specially-developed educational materials to transit agencies across the country, and OL just unveiled a new brochure geared at light rail, commuter rail, and intercity passenger rail safety.
National Train Day commemorates the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. For more information on National Train Day, see www.nationaltrainday.com
National Transportation Week provides an opportunity for the transportation community to join together to raise awareness about the importance of transportation. National Transportation Week also focuses on making youth aware of transportation-related careers. For more information on National Transportation week, see www.ntweek.org
About Operation Lifesaver
Operation Lifesaver’s mission is to end collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on rail property through a nationwide network of volunteers who work to educate people about rail safety. For more information, log on to www.oli.org