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

2. Operation Lifesaver

3. How time flies! May ‘07

4. MidStates represent... 16 states across the middle of the country 34% of U.S. population 48% of rail U.S. rail trackage

5. Highway Safety

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

7. Highway-Rail Safety

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

9. 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

10. MidStates Safety Improves Category20062007 Xing Incidents 1,3521,263 Xing Deaths 188148 Xing Injuries 528484 Trespass Deaths 168147 Trespass Injuries 189173 Preliminary 2007 U.S. Rail Safety Statistics Source: Federal Railroad Administration

11. 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

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

13. 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 %

14. The Human Toll

15. 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!

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

17. Student Drivers

18. New OL Driver Ed Video: “Look to Live”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26. 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

27. Outreach via www.oli.orgwww.oli.org

28. YouTube Generation

29. 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”

30. YouTube Success!

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

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

33. New Key Safety Tips pamphlet

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

35. Another Challenge – Pedestrian Rail Trespassing

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

37. Operation Lifesaver Strengthening ties with the engineering community

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

39. www.oli.org