Public awareness campaign aimed at reducing trespassing fatalities
HOMEWOOD, IL, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - With trespassing being the
leading cause of rail-related fatalities in the United States, CN (TSX:
CNR) (NYSE: CNI) is marking Rail Safety Week through May 5, 2013, with
a public awareness campaign stressing the deadly risks of trespassing
on railway tracks and property. CN Police are urging the public to call
CN Police at 1- 800-465-9239 to report unsafe behavior on railway
property.
CN Police Chief Bobby Walker said: "Disobeying railway crossing signals
or trespassing on railway property is dangerous and illegal. We cannot
tolerate that individuals put their lives and those of others at risk.
Through a combination of education and enforcement, we aim to change
attitudes and behaviors towards rail safety. We must reduce injuries
and fatalities on or near railway crossings, tracks, and CN property."
CN Police will be out in full force during Rail Safety Week, conducting
safety initiatives at commuter stations, CN intermodal terminals and
railway crossings in the United States and Canada. CN will visit
commuter stations to target a larger audience of rail users,
particularly parents who will be urged to pass on safety information to
their children.
For more information about the CN safety blitzes in your area, click here.
In 2013, there were 2,802 grade crossing and railway trespassing
accidents in the United States, causing 683 fatalities, according to
the Federal Railroad Administration. More than 50 per cent of
trespassing incidents resulted in fatalities.
CN has been promoting railway safety for more than 25 years through its All Aboard for Safety community education program. Every year, CN Police officers make
hundreds of All Aboard for Safety presentations and talk to more than 300,000 children and adults at
schools and community events in the United States and Canada about the
importance of safety and the dangers of walking or playing on or near
railway tracks. Part of the strength of this program is the
collaborative relationship with major community safety partners
Operation Lifesaver and Parachute.
CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway
subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver,
Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala.,
and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit,
Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul,
Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North
America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.
SOURCE CN