Press Release 3 September 2012: Safe route to school is not on railway tracks

The first day of September means the start of the new school year for all of us. If our own studies are already completed, we still help our children to get ready for this important day. And this is not just for this one day but for the entire period of studies and for the entire life.

In order to make sure that this period is not cut short by inattentiveness, somebody’s negligence or just plain foolishness, OLE continues its daily work for making people aware of dangers present at railway level crossings and giving people advice how to avoid such dangers.

For example, it is important to remember that similarly to road crossings, railway crossings are also equipped with traffic signs and signalling devices that should be adhered to for your own safety. Although the red traffic lights flashing at railway level crossings look a bit different, they carry exactly the same message – stay where you are and start crossing railways only when red lights have disappeared.

The start of the new school year also means meeting the old friends you have not see during the summer. You can do many exiting things to compensate the time missed. You should definitely leave one “playground” out of the scope of your activities – this is railway. The sad statistics about railway accidents involving children unfortunately tells us a different story – accidents harming kids playing on railway tracks become more frequent in September and October. We would like to call upon all adults – if you see kids playing on railway tracks trying to prove how brave they are – please contact the police by calling 110. This phone call can save lives.

Crossing railway at undesignated location is extremely dangerous and instead of expected time saving you can end up in a wheelchair or even worse. Trespassing on railway may be punished with a fine of around 200 Euros.

OLE had a very intensive summer. Together with the police we have participated in several KEAT (protect yourself and help others) projects for schoolchildren that took place in different parts of Estonia. Furthermore, OLE’s tent has been set up in town days and other public events where we introduced the dangers related to railway traffic and ways for preventing railway accidents. Start of the school year means for our presenters starting with railway safety presentations in Estonian educational institutions. If you want our presenters to reach the school of your children you should just contact us and fix a time for presentation. After that it will be up to the listeners whether they learn anything from the presentations and use the knowledge provided.

We would like to thank our cooperation partners and volunteers who have shared our values and stood next to us all these years. They have filled our organization with excellent content. We hope that OLE will have many new members and volunteers wishing to contribute their time and energy for ensuring railway safety.

Wishing you a nice and safe journey to school,

Yours OLE

Contacts:
Tamo Vahemets
Chairman of Management Board
+372 5045 112
tamo@operationlifesaver.eu
[divider]
OLE (www.ole.ee) is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 under the auspices of Estonian Railways. Our mission is to improve public awareness on dangers present in railway traffic and lawful behaviour on railways in order to reduce the number of accidents related to railways and fatalities and injuries thereof.