Rail Safety, Children and You

It’s easy for children and adults to forget that crossing the tracks can be unsafe. In fact, they may be less careful when crossing the tracks than when crossing a street!

Children don’t view traffic like adults. They often:

• can’t judge speed and distance;
• can’t tell where a sound is coming from;
• focus on one thing at a time (i.e., what interests them right now);
• have little or no sense of danger;
• don’t see or understand traffic flow; and
• think they are smarter or stronger than they really are.

That’s why it’s so important to teach and remind your children or children in your care:

• how to safely cross railway tracks – at approved public crossings only;
• the safest walking path to school if there is a train track to cross; and
• to never walk or play on railway land.