Our roads are crowded, cars are everywhere. Trains are still a more than viable mode of transportation, as well as a way to transport goods and services across our country. With both industries growing in leaps and bounds, most of us will encounter at least one railroad crossing during a day’s driving, sometimes two or three, or even more if you live in close proximity to a railroad crossing. It is a little time consuming to get stuck at a railroad crossing. We are all in a hurry. There are never enough hours in the day. We come to a railway crossing. The lights are blinking, but the guard rails have not yet come down. Why not just quickly drive across and no one is the wiser. What we seem to have forgotten is that those lights are put there for a reason. They are a warning that a train is approaching. What happens if your car gets stuck on the tracks, or the train suddenly comes? Trains are often carrying many, many cars and traveling at high speeds, and literally cannot stop if someone is stopped on the tracks.

In an average year there are hundreds of collisions at highway/railway crossings in Canada, some resulting in fatalities, resulting in costs in the millions as a result of these accidents.

Operation Lifesaver is a continuing public education program to heighten public awareness of this growing trend, with a goal of reducing the number of accidents and incidents associated with highway/railway crossings. Through education, enforcement, engineering and evaluation, Operation Lifesaver strives to make crossing at highway/railway crossings safer. Educating people on the dangers of crossing when the lights are blinking, enforcing laws that are made to protect the people, making sure the crossing is working properly and constantly evaluating ways to make the highway/railway crossings safer are all of the utmost importance, and in turn, will save lives.