Operation Lifesaver: Education’s Role in Highway-Rail Safety Helen M. Sramek, OLI 2008 MidStates Highway-Rail Safety Meeting Grapevine, Texas, May 20, 2008

Operation Lifesaver

How time flies! May ‘07

MidStates represent states across the middle of the country 34% of U.S. population 48% of rail U.S. rail trackage

Highway Safety

Highway Safety Statistics Motor vehicle crashes Annual U.S. casualties: < 40,000 deaths < 2 million injuries

Highway-Rail Safety

Did You Know? Approximately every 2 hours in the U.S., a person or vehicle is hit by a train. Railroad Safety

Crossing Incidents 2,742 Crossing Fatalities 339 Crossing Injuries 1,012 Trespass Fatalities 477 Trespass Injuries 396 Preliminary 2007 U.S. Rail Safety Statistics Source: Federal Railroad Administration The Rail Safety Problem, 2007

MidStates Safety Improves Category Xing Incidents 1,3521,263 Xing Deaths Xing Injuries Trespass Deaths Trespass Injuries Preliminary 2007 U.S. Rail Safety Statistics Source: Federal Railroad Administration

2007 MidStates Statistics CategoryTotal% of U.S. Xing Incidents 1,26346% Xing Deaths 14844% Xing Injuries 48448% Trespass Deaths 14731% Trespass Injuries 17344% Preliminary 2007 U.S. Rail Safety Statistics Source: Federal Railroad Administration

Grade Crossing Trends Successes despite: Increases in both number of cars and miles driven per year Resurgence in freight rail Increase in commuter rail

Increases in Passenger Rail American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported that in 2007: Light rail ridership increased 6.2% Commuter rail ridership increased 5.5 %

The Human Toll

Vehicle-Train Collisions: Tragedies that can turn catastrophic Disruption to communities: negative impact on traffic, commerce Impact on train crews The most preventable of crashes: we know where they could occur!

What’s New “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” Sir Francis Bacon

Student Drivers

New OL Driver Ed Video: “Look to Live”

New OL Driver Ed Video Provides flexibility and accessibility: Web component Driver education instructors can incorporate it in their programs

“Look to Live” Driver Ed Video Will post segments of video on

Professional Drivers Truck-trailer rigs in 2007 were involved in 17.6 % of vehicle- train collisions

OL Presenter’s Guide In 2009, we will update our presenter’s guide Will include new signage from MUTCD

Engineering Focus Later this year, a subgroup of OLI’s engineering committee will look into quiet zones

Results “You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.” Henry Ford

Operation Lifesaver – Results In 2007, OL reached: More than 3.7 million people via OL state programs, training and events nationwide

OL Driver Education In 2007, OL reached: More than 198,000 new drivers in 6,500 Driver Ed presentations Nearly 104,000 high school students in 1,130 presentations

Outreach via

YouTube Generation

OLI objected to 3 videos: “Kid Films Himself on Train Tracks” “The Most Stupid Stunt of All Time?” “Guy Lies Under Train as it Passes”

YouTube Success!

Light Rail Education OL is now providing its safety training to transit agencies in major metropolitan areas Pilot project with Austin Capitol Metro

OL Safety Messages Austin Capital Metro’s web page/poster

New Key Safety Tips pamphlet

Why OL is Important A proven model for collisions, injuries and fatalities A success story within the traffic safety community Crash statistics support this

Another Challenge – Pedestrian Rail Trespassing

Educating the Media Step up efforts to reduce trespass incidents Media images romanticize dangerous behavior Local newspaper insert Readers’ Digest USA Today

Operation Lifesaver Strengthening ties with the engineering community

Save the Date! 2008 Operation Lifesaver Symposium & Training Seminars Cincinnati Marriott at RiverCenter July 21-23, 2008