Trespassing remains the leading cause of rail-related fatalities In Canada
MONTREAL, April 28, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - With trespassing remaining the leading cause of rail-related fatalities in Canada, CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) is marking Rail Safety Week through May 4, 2014, 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 behaviour on railway property.
In 2013, in Canada, there were 58 trespasser accidents that resulted in 44 fatalities and 10 serious injuries. The proportion of trespasser accidents that were fatal (76 per cent) was up compared to the five-year average of 66 per cent.
"We will not tolerate that individuals put their lives and those of others at risk", says CN Police Chief Stephen Covey. "Too many people die from injuries sustained while trespassing on railway property in Canada and those fatalities are avoidable. The railway is not a safe place for children to play and it is not safe for adults to take short cuts across it. It is important to remember that when you see tracks, think trains!"
Crossing accidents represented another serious type of rail incidents in 2013, with 20 per cent of these accidents resulting in either serious or fatal injuries. There were 188 crossing accidents in Canada in 2013, consistent with the average of the past five years. These tragedies can be prevented simply by obeying the crossing protection that is in place. Trains cannot stop quickly and they cannot swerve to avoid a collision.
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 Canada and the United States. 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 initiatives in your area, click here.
CN Police work year-round to reduce trespassing and crossing incidents, fatalities and injuries, by identifying the highest risk areas and develop targeted strategies to reduce incidents.
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 Canada and the United States 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 such as Operation Lifesaver and Parachute.
Operation Lifesaver and its partners created Rail Safety Week in 2003 to raise public awareness of the potential dangers at highway/railway crossings and from trespassing on railway property.
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting approximately C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America. CN - Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., 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
For an interview with the CN Police, contact:
Méliane Etien
Media relations
News Canada
1 888 855-6397, ext. 236
[email protected]
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