On Apr. 25 CN kicked off its annual railway safety awareness campaign encouraging communities and the public to work together to reduce trespassing on railway property and stressing the importance of safety at level crossings.
On the first day of Rail Safety Week, CN debuted virtual reality 360° videos that will educate viewers about the potentially devastating consequences of trespassing and disregarding railway safety devices.
“Trespassing fatalities along railway tracks are entirely preventable, and tragedies at railway level crossings can be avoided by simply obeying crossing signals,” said Stephen Covey, chief of police and chief security officer at CN. “Through this initiative, CN is providing new ways of teaching kids, teens and adults to be safe near trains and railroad property and is asking them to spread the word and help save lives.”
CN Police officers will have custom Google Cardboard viewers to demonstrate the 360° rail safety videos throughout Rail Safety Week, from today through May 1. Visitors to CN’s Rail Safety Pledge website can view the videos on a desktop, laptop or mobile device, and visitors with access to any Google Cardboard viewer can experience this immersive virtual reality environment.
CN is the first railway in North America to use this immersive 360° video and virtual reality experience to educate the public on the importance of rail safety. For the first time, starting during Rail Safety Week, CN is inviting the public to take The Safety Pledge online which they can easily share with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers.
“Rail safety is everyone’s responsibility,” continued Covey. “By looking out for each other and working together, we can help keep our communities safe and prevent fatalities and injuries on or near railroad property. Together we can save lives and help bring crossing and trespassing accidents down to zero.”
In 2015, there were 53 trespasser accidents in Canada that resulted in 31 fatalities and 18 serious injuries. Level crossing accidents represented another serious type of rail incident. There were 164 crossing accidents in Canada in 2015, with 14 of these resulting in fatalities and 18 resulting in serious injuries.
The Safety Pledge asks people to share rail safety tips in their community, talk about rail safety at their local schools, or report unsafe behavior around trains or railway property.
Get rail safety tips, take The Safety Pledge, and live the 360° rail safety experience on your computer or mobile device at: www.mysafetypledge.com.
CN has been promoting railway safety for more than 25 years through its All Aboard for Safety community education program. Every year, CN employees 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. For more information about CN’s Rail Safety Week initiatives in your area, click here.
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than 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 of approximately 20,000 route-miles 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 about CN, visit the Company’s website at www.cn.ca.
