Rail deaths down but preventable: GO

High school students get message with 'beer goggles'

Yorkregion.com
April 29, 2016
By Jeremy Grimaldi

Over the past decade, there has been a 17-per-cent drop in the number of deaths involving railway lines throughout Canada.

At least part of this drop might be thanks to Operation Lifesaver Rail Safety Week, in part run annually by GO Transit to keep people way from train tracks.

However, the reality remains there are still 58 casualties nationwide per year involving trains.

"We want this number down to zero. All these deaths are completely avoidable," said GO Transit special constable Peter Mohyla.

He and his cohorts spent Thursday morning handing out pamphlets and talking to motorists and pedestrians stopped at the rail crossing on Stouffville's Main Street.

The event team then attended Stouffville District Secondary School, where they gave students specialized "fatal-vision goggles" or as teenagers often call them, "beer goggles".

During the exercise, teenagers are asked to manoeuvre over a mock track line, while wearing the goggles to test their impairment skills.

Mohyla said many of the deaths Canada experiences each year involve young people partying near rail lines.

"Often, they will cross the rail line to get home, so focused on walking they don't see the train," Mohyla added.

As for adults, Mohyla said the most disappointing thing he sees is adults walking their children over the tracks at undesignated crossings.

"Instead of being good role models, they take short cuts," he added. "They should go to the level-crossing. It may take five more minutes, but it's important for their children to learn rail safety."

Rail Safety Week runs April 25 to May 1, with partners including Parachute Canada.