Each year, highway-rail crashes kill over 500 people, over 2,000 more are seriously injured. Often they are unaware that trains cannot stop as quickly as motor vehicles to avoid a collision. Operation Lifesaver began in Idaho in 1972 after community leaders and the railroad together developed a public education program to avoid tragedies by urging people to make safe decisions at highway-rail grade crossings. At the end of the first year, Idaho's highway-rail grade crossing fatality rate dropped by 39 percent. . . .
All states have their own Operation Lifesaver programs.
The nation's railroads, related federal, state, and local governments, business, railroad suppliers, labor, civic and community leaders and other concerned safety professionals are all part of state programs. But it doesn't end there. As we've said, the key to the success of Operation Lifesaver is through participation at the grassroots level. Your local PTA, church, women's club, civic or fraternal organizations to which you belong may want to be part of Operation Lifesaver.