|
 "With the Memorial Day weekend being one of the busiest vehicle
travel days during the year, we want drivers to use caution when
they cross railroad tracks and safely arrive at their destinations,"
said Robert Morrison, Union Pacific chief of police.
"It can take a mile or more for a train to stop, and by the time a
locomotive engineer sees a vehicle on the crossing, it is too late
to stop," said Dale Bray, Union Pacific director of public safety.
Union Pacific has reduced grade crossing incidents by 37 percent
across its rail network since 2001. The railroad is committed to
public safety through various outreach channels such as community
events, media, Union Pacific Railroad police, employee resource
groups and Operation Lifesaver. The public safety initiative Union
Pacific Crossing Accident Reduction Education and Safety, known as
UP CARES, brings together communities in a collaborative and caring
effort to promote railroad grade crossing and pedestrian safety.
UP CARES activities include:
-
Grade crossing enforcement with local, county and state law
enforcement agencies.
-
Safety trains that provide local officials a firsthand look at
what locomotive engineers see daily while they operate trains
through a community.
-
Communication blitzes that educate the community at events or
through media outreach.
While there has been a more than 80 percent reduction across the
rail industry in crossing collisions since 1972, tragically, 265
people died and 980 were injured in 2011 as a result of a grade
crossing collisions throughout the United States, according to the
Federal Railroad Administration. (See 2011 statistics
at right.)
For more information about grade crossing safety, visit
ibrakefortrains.com.
[to top of second column] |
About Union Pacific: It was 150 years ago that Abraham Lincoln
signed the Pacific Railway Act of July 1, 1862, creating the
original Union Pacific. One of America's iconic
companies, today Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating
company of Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP), linking 23 states in the
western two-thirds of the country by rail and providing freight
service and logistics to the global supply chain. Union Pacific's
business mix includes agricultural products, automotive, chemicals,
energy, industrial products and intermodal transport.
___
Note: 2011 statistics include all railroad trespasser injuries and
fatalities for each of the states in the Union Pacific Railroad
Northern Region.
| |
Injuries |
Fatalities |
|
Colorado |
6 |
2 |
|
Illinois |
68 |
19 |
|
Iowa |
23 |
2 |
|
Kansas |
11 |
13 |
|
Minnesota |
19 |
5 |
|
Missouri |
20 |
12 |
|
Nebraska |
14 |
3 |
|
Wisconsin |
16 |
7 |
|
Wyoming |
0 |
0 |
[Text from file received from
Union Pacific]
 |
