Peggy Revell
Local law enforcement is marking Rail Safety Week with blitzes at select railroad crossings across the district that come with the message about safety: even one accident is one accident too many.
“We want to get down to zero accidents and zero injuries, zero fatalities, within the CN railway,” local CN Police Cst. Peter LeDrew said of this year’s “Target Zero” national campaign.
“There’s just too many accidents that are occurring right now,” he stressed.
While the annual blitz usually has taken place at the crossing on McIrvine Road in Fort Frances, this year CN Police, the OPP, and Treaty #3 Police held a blitz yesterday (April 28) at the Highway 11 crossing at Couchiching and will hold another one this Friday (May 1) from 10-11 a.m. at the Florence Street crossing in Emo.
Police will be handing out flyers to motorists and letting them know about the “Target Zero” campaign.
Across Canada last year, 287 accidents occurred at railway grade crossings and from trespassing, resulting in 56 serious injuries and 73 fatalities.
While there were no incidents locally, Cst. LeDrew noted there were three trespassing incidents and five crossing accidents across Northwestern Ontario in 2008.
Fewer crossings mean fewer incidents compared to other areas such as Winnipeg, he conceded, but even these numbers are “too many.”
“The big thing is complacency,” Cst. LeDrew remarked. “People go over crossings every day going back and forth to work and that, and complacency seems to be the worst thing that causes accidents.”
One big problem that remains is motorists running the lights at crossings.
“Basically, there’s a misconception that when trains are approaching a crossing—for example, out in Crozier or Alberton, the highway crossing there—I find that a lot of people don’t realize that the trains are going up to 50 miles per hour,” Cst. LeDrew noted.
While the trains may look far away and seem to be going at a slow speed, this actually is an
optical illusion, he warned.
“So a lot of times people will go through the crossing and the train will go by a couple seconds later.
“The crossing lights are set up so if you kind of get to a point of no return, you can get through safely, but the main thing is that they also give you enough time to stop,” Cst. LeDrew added, stressing that watching your speed on the road is an important part of being able to stop in time.
“There’s been issues with McIrvine Road with the delays from the trains coming into the yard where they’ve got to come in slow,” he noted. “But out on the highway, if you stop and wait for the train to go by, you’re going to be stopped for maybe a minute.
“So that’s the other thing I try to let people know: that you’re going to get delayed maybe a minute, so it’s worth your while to stop and be safe, and then make sure you’re clear when the lights are not flashing.”
One positive development is that some municipalities are putting stop signs at railway crossings.
“That’s another step in the right direction, as far as I’m concerned,” Cst. LeDrew said. “Because instead of going through and noticing a train when it’s too late, you have to stop and look both ways and then cross through.”
Meanwhile, trespassing on CN property also continues to be a safety issue.
“It is on the decline but trespassing is still the main concern with CN right now and within Fort Frances, as well,” Cst. LeDrew noted.
“The big thing is people need to realize what trespassing is,” he stressed. “Trespassing is walking, or playing or running or being besides the tracks—not just necessarily on the tracks.
“We’ve had issues [with] all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.”
Cst. LeDrew said parents should make sure their children know the safe way to get to school. And with so many parks in Fort Frances, there are plenty of safe environments where kids can play instead of on or around railroad tracks.
Crossing at designated spots also is an important part of being safe, he added, stressing short-cuts across the tracks or through railroad property are “not worth the risks.”
“The main thing that people need to realize is that the railways are a very dangerous place,” he remarked. “Our employees are required to wear safety equipment, so it just shows you how dangerous it is.”
While Rail Safety Week only runs for seven days, Cst. LeDrew and local police are working to make sure the message of safety is promoted all year.
“We try to continue to make a presence out there and work with the OPP and Treaty #3 to have the awareness about the dangers and the trespassing,” said Cst. LeDrew, also noting the different police organizations work together to bring safety presentations into every school across the district.
“I’ve teamed up with the OPP and Treaty #3 and we’re in the schools,” he remarked. “We still promote the ‘Operation Lifesaver’ program that is geared towards rail safety.”
Working alongside Cst. Anne McCoy, community services officer for the Fort Frances OPP, Cst. LeDrew has been able to combine safety presentations for double the impact.
“So we’ll go in and go to the schools, as well, and teach the kids about bike safety, but then we’ll also focus on taking safe routes to school and where the proper places to cross the railroad [tracks] are,” he explained.
