Safe Crossing Week 2008 in Canada: Safety partners call on parents to teach their children how to keep safe at railway crossings

TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2008 — Safe Kids Canada and CN today launched Safe Crossing Week 2008, a national educational campaign focused on keeping Canadian children safe at railway crossings and away from trains. From today through Oct. 26, more than 100,000 young students in more than 600 elementary schools across Canada will learn about safety at railway crossings in their classrooms with special lesson plans and educational material developed by partners Safe Kids Canada and CN.

Last year in Canada 84 people were killed in incidents involving trains. ¹ Education about rail safety can help prevent many of these deaths. Teaching rail safety to children at a young age is vital in both urban and rural areas, especially as urban centres are growing and more housing is built near railway tracks. 

Parents: Now's the Time!

This year, the Safe Crossing Program is focusing on parents' responsibility to talk to their children about rail crossing safety and safe behaviour around trains and tracks. With the theme Parents: Now's the Time! Don't wait for a tragedy, the safety partners are urging parents to talk to their young children now — to teach them important life-saving safety rules to prevent a possible tragedy.

“Talk to your children about rail safety and teach them about staying safe around trains and railway tracks,” says Pamela Fuselli, executive director of Safe Kids Canada. “Be aware of your child's abilities based on their age and stage of development. Younger children need to be supervised. When you walk with them, use the opportunity to talk to them about rail safety. Older children can learn to make safe choices, if they have been taught as they grow.”

There are 73,047 kilometres of railway tracks and approximately 55,000 public, private and pedestrian highway/railway crossings in Canada. Recognizing that education is a critical prevention strategy, Safe Kids Canada and CN continue to build on their successful Safe Crossing Program, which began in 2005 as a one-day event and was expanded to a weeklong campaign since 2006.

Safe Crossing Program expands for 2008

In 2008, more than 600 Canadian elementary schools are participating in Safe Crossing Week, an increase from 300 schools in 2007. The schools received a Safe Crossing Week package, which includes: Safe Crossing school certificate; improved lesson plans and activities incorporating rail safety and other safe practices into language, math, social sciences, art and physical education classes for kindergarten to Grade 6 students; Safe Crossing Week posters; student activity booklets; and interactive web-based teaching tools.

Once again this year, CN Police officers from coast to coast will conduct trackside classrooms with elementary school children, showing them how to cross railway tracks safely and holding school assembles for large school groups. CN employees across the country will also volunteer to talk about railway safety in their children's schools. A new addition this year is the participation of several children's hospitals that will hold Safe Crossing story time with young patients.

The Safe Crossing Program supports parents with an online toolkit to help them initiate dialogue and prompt questions from their children. There is a fact sheet for parents to help them understand rail safety, a Staying Safe Around Trains activity booklet for kids, and lots more kid-friendly resources and fun activities to engage children in learning.

To access teaching tools for Safe Crossing Week 2008, visit www.safekidscanada.ca or call 1-888-SAFE-TIPS (723-3847).

In the United States, Safe Crossing Week 2008 takes place through a partnership between CN and Safe Kids USA.

The Safe Crossing Program is a part of CN's All Aboard for Safety community education program through which CN Police officers have been promoting railway safety for more than 25 years. Part of the strength of the All Aboard for Safety program is the collaborative relationship CN shares with major community safety organizations: Safe Kids Canada, Operation Lifesaver, Safe Communities Canada, SMARTRISK, Safe Kids USA, Safe Communities America and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Every year, CN Police officers make All Aboard for Safety presentations to more than 300,000 students and adults in schools and at community events in Canada and the United States.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among children in Canada. Safe Kids Canada collaborates with partner organizations across the country to conduct research, raise awareness, educate families and advocate for safer environments to protect children from injury. The toll free 1-888-Safe-Tips line and http://www.safekidscanada.ca/ answer questions from parents and partners about child injury prevention, education, advocacy or research.  The rail safety program funded by CN is one of the prevention programs provided by Safe Kids Canada. Safe Kids Canada is the national injury prevention program of SickKids.

¹ Operation Lifesaver, Railway Crossing and Trespasser Accidents for December 2007, Table 2, http://www.operationlifesaver.ca/05_docs/Stats_Month_files/tsb_2007E.pdf.