Operation Lifesaver Launches New Animated Rail-Safety Campaign for Young Canadians

OTTAWA, Onatrio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Operation Lifesaver (OL) Canada, a national not-for-profit dedicated to rail safety, today launched a new public-awareness campaign aimed at educating young Canadians about the importance of obeying all rail safety signs and signals.

Designed to appeal to youth between 13 and 24, the Seriously. Read the Signs. campaign

takes a light-hearted approach to rail safety. It consists of three short, humourous, animated videos:

• Don’t feed the geese!
• No parking.
• Don’t walk on the grass.

Each minute-long video “stars” Reb (short for “Rebel”), a mischievous character who ignores everyday signs, and as a result, ends up taking some very unexpected turns.

Helping young people to think differently about railway signs and signals

“Seriously. Read the Signs. drives home the point that while it might be easy to ignore signs—or to think that they don’t apply to you—not following them can have unintended consequences,” says Sarah Mayes, National Director of Operation Lifesaver Canada. “And when those signs are around tracks or trains, it could even cost you your life.”

Every year in Canada, more than 100 people are killed or seriously injured in railway crossing and trespassing incidents—and sadly, many of these deaths are young Canadians. These tragedies take an emotional toll on the victims’ friends and families, railway employees, rail passengers, and first responders.

Seriously. Read the Signs. is the latest in a series of successful public-awareness campaigns that OL has launched in recent years to try to prevent these incidents, including #STOPTrackTragedies, Look. Listen. Live., and Train to Drive. With this latest campaign, OL’s aim was to capture the attention of those Canadians who tend to ignore traditional PSAs. All three Seriously. Read the Signs. animated videos will be posted to OL’s website, and promoted on social media, in the hopes of reaching as many young Canadians as possible.

About Operation Lifesaver Canada

Operation Lifesaver Canada is a national public rail-safety program sponsored by Transport Canada, the Railway Association of Canada and its members, including CN, CP, VIA Rail, Metrolinx, exo, West Coast Express and Genesee & Wyoming, among others. OL works in partnership with railways, law enforcement agencies, governments, and other safety focused organizations to promote rail safety.

Through its national network of Rail Safety Ambassadors, partnerships with safety councils, police, the trucking industry and community groups, and innovative tools such as its virtual-reality Look. Listen. Live. campaign, Operation Lifesaver Canada works to save lives by educating Canadians about the hazards of rail crossings and trespassing on railway property. Canadians can keep up-to-date on the latest rail safety news by visiting operationlifesaver.ca.