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Operation Lifesaver Radio Campaign for Direction 2006
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Nationwide various Newspapers, Safety Related Reports
Magazines, and
Brochures etc
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Dear
Editor -
Saskatoon
Star Phoenix,
December 19, 1999. I've been reading letters that some of my friends & neighbors have been writing about the Central Ave. Crossing lately. I think some of us are missing an important fact: that when a vehicle tangles with train, the train wins! The driver and the passengers are most often killed or seriously injured. We railroaders don't want to hurt anyone; most of us are people that live in your community. We're just trying to earn a living, by doing our job. We don't want to block you at any crossing anymore than we need to, but as you know every community in this country built around the railroad, Sutherland is no different. The railway does not have a traffic problem, "we" do, our community. I know because I get blocked to. We've all seen people take a chance, even with their children in their car. The guys working the west end of the yard or the road engines coming and going to the Diesel Shops see it all the time. Engineers focus on the vehicle not the people inside, because it turns your guts to see an adult just make it across, and in the car seat in the back, a baby looks up at the locomotive, at us. I don't understand why a parent would risk the life of their child. No, it's not teenagers that are running the lights, it's adults, that's who we're hitting at crossings across Canada and the United States. In a recent Angus Reid Survey it was found that the average person does not think railway related incidents are a problem. In fact, every 25 hours in Canada someone is involved in a mishap with a train (110 minutes in the USA).
Driving is a privilege not a right, let go of the "road rage" my
friends, let's start thinking about what we are doing to
ourselves and most of all, our families. I started public
speaking seven years ago, because my life was changed forever in
a spilt second. You see, I was at the controls of a locomotive
when it slammed into someone's vehicle and continued right on
through some people's lives, including my own. If I could change
the past, believe me, I would. I've lived my worst nightmare. I
don't want to try to live through another one again, but the
choice is not mine, Tom
Armstrong
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