HOMEWOOD, Ill., April 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CN (TSX: CNR)
(NYSE: CNI) today kicked off its annual railway safety awareness
campaign encouraging communities and the public to work together to
reduce trespassing on railway property and stressing the importance
of safety at grade crossings.
On the first day of Rail Safety Week, CN debuted virtual reality
360° videos that will educate viewers about the potentially
devastating consequences of trespassing and disregarding railway
safety devices.
"Trespassing fatalities along railway tracks are entirely
preventable, and tragedies at railway crossings can be avoided by
simply obeying crossing signals," said Stephen Covey, chief of police and chief
security officer at CN. "Through this initiative, CN is providing
new ways of teaching kids, teens and adults to be safe near trains
and railroad property and asking them to spread the word and help
save lives."
CN Police officers will have custom Google Cardboard viewers to
demonstrate the 360° rail safety videos throughout Rail Safety
Week, from today through May 1.
Visitors to CN's Rail Safety Pledge website can view the videos on
a desktop, laptop or mobile device, and visitors with access to any
Google Cardboard viewer can experience this immersive virtual
reality environment.
CN is the first railway in North
America to use this immersive 360° video and virtual reality
experience to educate the public on the importance of rail safety.
For the first time, starting during Rail Safety Week, CN is
inviting the public to take The Safety Pledge online which they can
easily share with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers.
"Rail safety is everyone's responsibility," continued Covey. "By
looking out for each other and working together, we can help keep
our communities safer and prevent fatalities and injuries on or
near railroad property. Together we can save lives and help bring
crossing and trespassing accidents down to zero."
In 2015, trespasser incidents on U.S. railways resulted in 512
fatalities. Grade crossing accidents represented another serious
type of rail incident. There were 2,059 crossing accidents in the
U.S. in 2015, resulting in 244 fatalities and another 967
injuries
The Safety Pledge asks people to share rail safety tips in their
community, talk about rail safety at their local schools, or report
unsafe behavior around trains or railway property.
Get rail safety tips, take The Safety Pledge, and live the 360°
rail safety experience on your computer or mobile device at:
www.mysafetypledge.com.
CN has been promoting railway safety for more than 25 years
through its All Aboard for Safety community education
program. Every year, CN employees make hundreds of All Aboard
for Safety presentations and talk to more than 300,000 children
and adults at schools and community events in Canada and the
United States about the importance of safety and the dangers
of walking or playing on or near railway tracks. For more
information about CN's Rail Safety Week initiatives in your area,
click here.
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than
C$250 billion worth of goods annually
for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource
products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail
network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National
Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries –
serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of
Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis., and
Jackson, Miss., with connections
to all points in North America.
For more information about CN, visit the Company's website at
www.cn.ca.
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SOURCE CN