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Organization urges students to make rail safety a priority As students prepare to return to school next week, a national rail safety group is reminding them to be careful if their paths take them near railway tracks. Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing railwayrelated deaths and injuries, is calling on students to make rail safety a priority and refrain from risky behaviours around the tracks. "Whether it's taking a shortcut across the tracks to go for lunch or driving around the gates at a crossing because you're late for class, it's illegal and there can be deadly consequences," said Operation Lifesaver's national director, Mike Regimbal. "This year we're asking students to make rail safety part of their school-day routines. It could be the difference between life and death." Regimbal pointed to the 2007 death of 18-year-old Ty King as an example of what the group is hoping to prevent with this awareness campaign. On Sept. 29, 2007, King, a resident of Grimsby, Ont., left a driver's education class and began walking to a friend's home to rehearse an upcoming school drama presentation. For some reason, during the journey King walked along some rail tracks, which ran through the middle of his town. The engineer of an approaching train spotted King on the tracks and desperately sounded the horn repeatedly to try and warn him, but the teen was listening to music on his iPod and did not hear or see the train in time. In a message on the Operation Lifesaver website, King's mother, Pam King, described her son as a natural leader, and someone who stood up for what he believed in and would speak up if he witnessed any form of wrongdoing. She said he had an innate ability to view every adversity as a challenge and noted his future was limitless. Following King's death, Pam brought her family's tragic story to Operation Lifesaver to help prevent similar needless deaths. "I have a social responsibility to be involved with train safety, to share my tragedy, to prevent other families from having to undergo the pain of losing a loved one," said King in her message. "I want the public to understand that train tracks are a high-speed, 24/7, autobahn for train traffic and train traffic only. If a pedestrian were seen walking down the middle of a highway, the public would recognize that as a life-threatening situation and the police would be called. It is no different for a person walking on train tracks." From September on, students can follow along with the Misadventures of Bob, Operation Lifesaver's unofficial rail safety mascot, as he embarks on adventures the wrong way -- in the path of an oncoming train. These misadventures can be seen at bit. ly/1VwEizy. Whether it's texting and driving while on his way to class, playing a Halloween prank or other not-so-smart actions, Bob clearly illustrates how fatal these actions can be if they're done near rail tracks. For more information about rail safety or Operation Lifesaver, visit www.operationlifesaver.ca. Established in Canada in 1981, Operation Lifesaver is a national public-rail safety program sponsored by Transport Canada and the Railway Association of Canada. 13 | Thursday, September 3, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com You get just one funeral. Make it the one you want. You are unique. Your life is unlike any other. By pre-planning your final arrangements now, you can choose the options that reflect how you want to be remembered. What's more, you can save thousands of dollars and protect family from uncertainty about your wishes. Take the first step: Ask us about your FREE Planning Kit! 905-257-1100 Look for us on Facebook glenoaks.ca Glen Oaks Funeral Home & Cemetery by Arbor Memorial Arbor Memorial Inc. Plannin g Kit! Family Owned. Proudly Canadian. FREE 3164 Ninth Line (403 & Dundas St.), Miss./Oakville, ON Euro-Line Appliances On Cranberry Court We will pay up to 50% of your energy retrofit project costs. Oakville Hydro is making it easier for business owners to save electricity and lower their hydro bills. Over 260 Oakville businesses have received more than $2.8 million in saveONenergy incentives to reduce their energy costs. Our team is ready to help you start saving today. Contact us at retrofit@oakvillehydro.com to learn how to get started or visit Oakvillehydro.com to learn more about our business programs. Subject to additional terms and conditions found at saveonenergy.ca. Funded by the Independent Electricity System Operator and offered by Oakville Hydro Electricity Distribution Inc. OMOfficial Mark adopted and used by the Independent Electricity System Operator. Used under licence.