- Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach issued a proclamation recognizing September 18-24 as Rail Safety Week in Brown County.
- The goal is to raise awareness and educate the public about the dangers associated with highway rail grade crossings and pedestrian safety to help reduce the number of avoidable fatalities and injuries.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I'm Nina Sparano in downtown Green Bay on Dousman Street....
Behind me, a railroad crossing... In an area that sees a lot of traffic at all times of the day.
This week, Brown County has declared this week, rail safety week, to coincide with National Rail Safety Week. Drawing attention to rail safety, to hopefully save lives.
Executive of Brown County, Troy Streckenbach made the official proclamation downtown Wednseday to help remind the public that too many lives are lost each year due to rail road trespass and grade crossing incidents.
This week's focus on rail safety is about educating the public... Stressing the importance of these blue emergency signs posted at each railroad crossing across the country... Could you or someone need help on the tracks.
“Once you call us and notify us train traffic is going to stop at that crossing until we get clearance from local law enforcement that crossing is clear,” said Canadian National Railroad Police special agent Gene Meyer. “It’s very important that people that people call us and notify us because if people don't call us we don't know.”
For example...if your car should get stuck on the tracks, all you have to do is call the number on the blue sign and they can actually stop train traffic in the area and send emergency officials out to help you.
Coming up tonight at Six... We'll tell you about a state law you may not know about when it comes to the rail system... A law that could easily be broken... And you could be fined, even arrested if you're not paying attention.
