Anyone can become an Operation Lifesaver volunteer; all you need to do is contact your state coordinator for more information. But, if you want to go above and beyond to become a presenter, you must get certified. First you must go through a one-day training to learn about the history of Operation Lifesaver, its mission and essential rail safety tips. Once you’ve completed the training, you must provide a 10-minute presentation to a small group of 2 or more people that is observed by an OL staff member. If you pass then you’re certified, and you can provide rail safety presentations to members of your community on behalf of Operation Lifesaver.
Bill Schertle, of Orange, Calif., is the volunteer who observed my presentation and I passed with flying colors! He’s a great mentor and he really knows his rail safety materials. I’m more ready than ever to teach you and your community tips to be safe around train tracks. Operation Lifesaver truly is a wonderful organization to be affiliated with and I’m happy to be officially part of the OL family.
How many of your "lifesavers" actually live near the tracks? How many of them live - or try to endure - the never ending - useless - yes - useless - deafening horn blasts? How many of your managers have actually experienced firsthand for days on end the deafening horn blasts? How many times have they been invited and ignored the pleas to truly listen to what we are forced to endure? We can answer all these questions and tons more - real questions - real concerns from people experiencing this insanity firsthand - real horror stories of being startled out of sleep 7 nights a week - 3 and 4 times a night be the most God awful, deafening BNSF train horns!!! Not to mention horn blasts all day long from Amtrak and MetroLink. We live directly adjacent to the Aeropuerto crossing with the trains 45 feet from our back window. We have had a suicide behind our home - and all the horn blasting in the world did nothing and will do nothing to prevent that and it will do nothing to prevent those people who want to run through the crossing arms. However, what you and your managers in their infinite wisdom have done is to make millions of people miserable to try to save the few - very few who do what they want and will continue to do what they want. Instead of telling us and anyone else who will listen how wonderful you all are and how safe you have made things - bull - try to witness what we are living with firsthand and really do something to stop the horn abuse.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Joy. I actually live near the tracks in Anaheim and I too hear the Metrolink & BNSF trains every day. I would be happy to visit you and hear the train horns from your point of view, just tell me when.
ReplyDeleteJust recently, there have been a number of incidents, some of which are fatal, that involved unsafe behavior around the railroad tracks. Earlier this month, a teenager died in Riverside when walking along the tracks and another death occurred in Ventura County just this week. There also has been incidents in the cities of Anaheim and Orange earlier this year (http://www.ocregister.com/news/accident-226927-train-vehicle.html).
Tragic incidents like these reinforce why I feel the need to share rail safety messages with the community. I hope that you can understand that raising rail safety awareness can save someone's life.
Joy:
ReplyDeleteWhile I can appreciate your frustration and irritation with the noise, I live near the Ontario Airport, I have to ask - were you not aware of the trains and the horns when you were looking at buying the house?
Yes, in fact, there are many folks who would LOVE to live near the tracks. Obviously, just not you.
Keep in mind that the railroads are not to blame. They are required by federal law to "whistle" when approaching a grade crossing unless the city has a "quiet zone" exemption.
As you can read on Sarah's great blog, OC is already putting a lot of work into upgrading crossings and making funds available for cities to qualify for a "quiet zone" exemption.
Take care.
Joe
http://chasingsteel.com
Joy,
ReplyDeleteMany Operation Lifesaver Volunteers are associated with railroads or have had personal experience with family and friends who were killed or injured by collisions as well as those interested in Safety. You are 20 times more likely to be involved in a collision with a train than a collision with another vehicle.
There are ways to make railroads safer and quieter (Both do go hand in hand), but the U.S. is not committed to spend the money.
As long as we put every obstacles we can to prevent such changes, regretfully we will still have people being killed by trains.