NS Partners With WAZE in Crossing Safety Campaign

Norfolk Southern will launch a pilot safety campaign to focus on grade crossing incident prevention at six locations including cities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kentucky.

The carrier said it will partner with mobile navigation application WAZE to target drivers with messages promoting safety at and near railroad crossings.

Receiving special attention will be Toledo, Ohio; Gary, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

NS noted that in Gary there have been 28 grade crossing incidents at nine crossings since 1990. Toledo has had 14 incidents at seven crossings since 1981, the east side of Louisville has recorded 40 incidents at 12 crossings since 2000, and in Allegheny County there have been six incidents at five crossings since 2007.

NS said it will use WAZE to provide drivers near railroad crossings with messages promoting grade crossing safety information.

The application will deliver banner notifications to WAZE users who cross into a “geo fence” encompassing several traditionally problem crossings in the targeted areas.

The messages will be sent even if a driver does not drive across a grade crossing.

The notifications will include a crossbuck graphic and a grade crossing safety-inspired message, along with a link to a website with more railroad safety information.

To avoid contributing to distracted driving, the notifications will be delivered once the user’s vehicle stops.

WAZE has 30 million users in the United States and is free to download.

The pilot program will run through the end of 2019.

OLI Observing Rail Safety Week

Rail Safety Week was launched this week by Operation Lifesaver in the United States and Canada.

The OLI organizations in both countries are collaborating in a joint campaign known as #STOPTrackTragedies to raise public awareness of safe practices at railroad grade crossings.

During the campaign OLI will show videos with the personal stories of people including victims, friends and family members, locomotive engineers and first responders who were affected by grade crossing or trespassing incidents.

One video a day will be released each day over the course of Rail Safety Week, which runs through Sept. 28.

OLI said that last year’s campaign and other safety week efforts generated nearly 3.7 million video views on YouTube and 18 million impressions on social and traditional media in the U.S. and Canada.

FRA Launching New Safety Campaign

A federal agency is starting an effort on Oct. 30 to reduce deaths and injuries at railroads at grade crossings and due to trespassing.

The Federal Railroad Administration will sponsor a symposium on Oct. 30 featuring federal officials, railroads, safety advocates and the supply industry to discuss what can be done.

The FRA recorded 2,119 grade crossing incidents in 2017 that involved death or injury.

That compared with 1,211 incidents in the first half of 2018.

The agency said there were 1,019 trespassing deaths and injuries in 2017 and 592 from January to July 2018.

“We’ve had tremendous success since the 1970s with reduction of grade crossing accidents. The question is what else can we do going forward?” FRA Administrator Ronald Batory said. “There are 20-plus people dying every week” at grade crossings or while trespassing.”

Batory said experts will review grade crossing project with an eye toward using additional technology to make crossings safer.

He said the technology of grade crossing warning devices has not changed much and still relies on a railroad employee manually inspecting each crossing every month.

The FRA head suggested that railroads use technology to monitor warning devices and to generate automatic report faults that can be repaired before the warning devices fail.

FRA Head Urges Caution at Crossings

The answer to grade crossing safety is pretty easy, the head of the Federal Railroad Administration believes

Ronald Batory

In a newspaper column, Ronald Batory urged motorists and pedestrians to “make safe choices.”

That means watching and listening for signals and not driving around lowered crossing gates.

The column is part of a campaign by the FRA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to raise awareness of grade crossing safety.

The theme of the campaign is “Stop! Trains Can’t.” The campaign got a lot of visibility during radio broadcasts of the recent NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

The campaign is using radio, social media and digital advertising to target areas at higher risk for crossing accidents. A special focus is being provided in states where the most dangerous crossings are located.

Batory wrote in his column that train-vehicle collisions are avoidable, but it’s up to motorists to stop because trains cannot stop quickly.

In the meantime, the U.S. Department of Transportation is working with technology companies to add rail-crossing alerts to mobile applications.

Testing is underway of a system to provide warnings to trains when a vehicle is on the tracks.

DOT is also working with Operation Lifesaver on other rail safety education initiatives to encourage drivers to make safe choices at crossings.

OLI Creates Program for First Responders

Operation Lifesaver has announced the launch of a program oriented toward raising safety awareness for first responders.

The program, known as Rail Safety for First Responders, includes an interactive learning program that OLI said “brings attention to the choices first responders often make around tracks and trains and is intended to help them safely traverse highway-rail intersections.”

In a news release, OLI said that although it can take extra caution to navigate a railroad crossing while heading to an emergency, ambulance drivers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs and dispatchers can mitigate the risk by knowing what to do.

The program was developed with the cooperation of first responders and the e-learning program addresses railroad topics, crossing challenges, safety searches and incident responses.

The Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Highway Administration provided funding for the development of the program.

FRA Launches Grade Crossing Safety Campaign

During his swearing in ceremony, new Federal Railroad Administration head Ronald Batory said safety will be his top concern.

His first action as FRA head was to introduce a new effort to raise public awareness of grade crossing safety, a $4.3 million campaign, sponsored by the FRA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It will feature the slogan, “Stop. Trains Can’t.”

“Increasing public awareness of rail safety will be a consistent priority of mine at FRA,” Batory said. “Rail safety is first and foremost. Its practice is non-compromising and non-negotiable  . . . it is the keystone of the railroad industry. Railroading is not unsafe, yet you can never assume. One mistake can be your last.”

He said that during his time at the FRA safety will be closely linked to technological innovation.

“Transformative technologies await us,” he said. But any steps forward will be driven by “fact-based, data-driven analysis and decision making.”

Batory said the FRA “will continue with renewed urgency in seeking ways to foster and encourage the railroad’s use of technology to bring about continued safety improvements.”

U.S., Canada OLI To Observe Rail Safety Week

The Operation Lifesaver organizations of the United States and Canada are planning to conduct a joint Rail Safety Week this year, Sept. 23 to 29.

Canada has observed Rail Safety Week in April for the past 15 years while its U.S. counterpart held its first Rail Safety Week in 2017.

“By aligning our dates with those of the U.S., we’re ensuring a more coordinated — and hopefully impactful — North American rail-safety campaign,” said Sarah Mayes, national director of Operation Lifesaver Canada.

In the United States, Operation Lifesaver works with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the railroad industry, state Operation Lifesaver programs and other state and local safety partners on an awareness campaign, local events and distribution of safety tips to pedestrians, drivers, transit riders and passenger-rail users throughout the week.

OLI Launches Campaign for Kids

Operation Lifesaver has launched a program aimed at children that is designed to promote safety at railroad grade crossings and rights of ways.

The program is oriented toward students from kindergarten through middle school and includes new materials and trained volunteer speakers.

The theme of the program is Train and the Whateveritwas and it will present key safety messages in an entertaining and engaging format.

“Operation Lifesaver is working to change people’s behavior around railroad tracks and crossings with our educational materials and tips for people of all ages,” said OLI Interim President Wende Corcoran. “Reaching school-aged students with free presentations by our volunteers that are interesting, fun, and that convey lifesaving information is an important part of our multi-faceted approach to reducing those numbers.”

The age-appropriate materials to be used in the program will introduce children to basic safety messages and train attributes, while emphasizing the importance of being cautious around trains and tracks.

The information is presented as a story and divided into grade specific programs.

For students in grades three through five (ages 8-11), the presentation covers general safety messages, signs and signals, and trespass prevention messages using information and interactive games sequences to keep the attention of this age group.

For middle school students, the presentation uses emoji-like characters in a colorful, yearbook-style story line to appeal to smartphone-savvy students.

The presentation covers general safety messages, signs and signals, and trespassing prevention messages.

Corcoran said that the three new educational tools are available for viewing in the kids section of the Operation Lifesaver website

To request a free safety presentation, visit http://bit.ly/request-an-OL-presentation or http://www.oli.org.

OLS Plans Safety Week in September

Operation Lifesaver plans to conduct a national rail safety week starting on Sept. 24.

OLS CEO Bonnie Murphy said the week will be used to raise awareness and empower the public to be safe near railroad tracks and grade crossings.

The railroad safety group is working with the Federal Railroad Administration, other federal, state, and local agencies as well as railroads and safety-minded organizations to attend local events and distribute safety literature to the public.

Ohio a Target of DOT Safety Campaign

Ohio is one of 20 states being targeted by a U.S. Department of Transportation grade crossing safety advertising campaign aimed at young males.

DOT has created an advertisement built on the theme of “Stop! Trains Can’t” that urges caution at railroad crossings.

The advertisement is part of a two-year effort by DOT to reduce accidents and fatalities at grade crossings. Partners in the campaign include the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration.

The campaign was prompted by an increase in railroad crossing fatalities in 2014. Last year 232 people died in grade crossing accidents.

About every three hours a person or vehicle is hit by a train in the United States.

Ohio was chosen for the campaign because it has crossings on the list of the nation’s 15 most dangerous grade crossings and is among the states in which 75 percent of grade crossing accidents occurred in 2015.

DOT will spend $7 million to buy advertising time and space in media outlets to target men aged 18 to 49. Male drivers are involved in nearly 75 percent of all railroad crossing accidents.

Other states that will see the advertisements are California, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Mississippi, New Jersey, Arkansas and Arizona.