Save Lives Tell 5: A California Rail Safety Campaign
Every 3 hours in the U.S. a person or vehicle is hit by a train.
These moments are often preventable. Yet they can lead to life-changing injuries or tragic loss of life.
That is why Save Lives Tell 5 was created: to encourage Californians to share critical rail safety information with the people they care about most. A simple conversation can help prevent tragedy.
This California rail safety campaign asks you to do three things.
- Always choose safety every time you are near railroad tracks and trains.
- Tell five or more family members, friends, coworkers, or neighbors about choosing rail safety to help save lives.
- Challenge them to tell 5 more.
Start the Conversation. Save a Life! Together, we build a safer California, one conversation at a time.
Why California rail safety awareness matters
California has the highest number of rail-related fatalities in the United States. Too many of these incidents happen because people underestimate how fast trains move, how quiet they can be, or how dangerous it is to be near tracks illegally.
By sharing rail safety tips in your neighborhood, school, workplace, or online community, you can help:
- Increase rail safety awareness
- Reduce grade crossing crashes
- Prevent trespassing incidents
- Educate children, teens, drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians to make safe choice near railroad tracks
- Save lives through everyday conversations
Save Lives Tell 5 turns awareness into action and action into prevention.
Essential california rail safety tips
Use and share these train and railroad safety tips every time you’re near tracks.
- Always expect a train.
- Trains are quieter and faster than you think.
- They can run on any track, at any time, from either direction – not just on a “schedule”.
- Never walk on or beside railroad tracks.
- It’s illegal and extremely dangerous to be on or beside railroad tracks.
- Tracks, bridges, and tunnels are for trains only.
- Only cross at designated public crossings.
- Cross only where you see a crossbuck, flashing red lights, or. agate.
- Crossing anywhere else is trespassing and illegal.
- Never try to beat a train.
- Do not drive or walk around lowered gates or flashing lights.
- Wait until lights stop flashing and gates are fully raised.
- Look clearly in both directions before crossing.
- Multiple tracks can mean multiple trains.
- Stay off railroad bridges, trestles, and out of tunnels.
- There is only room for the train.
- There is no safe place for pedestrians in these areas.
- Trains always have the right of way.
- Trains have the right of way 100% of the time over cars, emergency vehicles, law enforcement, cyclists, and pedestrians.
- Stay outside of the danger zone.
- Trains can extend three feet or more beyond the steel rail.
- Keep at least 15 feet from the tracks to stay safe.
- Never take photos or videos on tracks.
- It’s dangerous and illegal.
- Optical illusions make it hard to judge a train’s speed and distance.
- Trains cannot stop quickly — by the time an engineer sees you, it may already be too late.
- Stay alert. Avoid distractions.
- No texting, no headphones, no scrolling near tracks.
- No distractions that would prevent you from hearing an approaching train.
- Always expect a train.
How "Save Lives Tell 5" started in California
Save Lives Tell 5 was created specifically for California communities because rail safety is an urgent public safety issue across the state.
The campaign was designed to:
- Increase California rail safety awareness
- Reduce grade crossing crashes and trespassing incidents
- Empower residents to actively protect their friends, families, and neighborhoods
- Encourage communities to spread rail safety messages person to person
This initiative shows how one conversation can become a chain reaction of life-saving action.
What Can you do Today?
Make the Rail Safety California Commitment
Tell 5 or more people
Spread the message
Keep the message going
Tell 5. Share rail safety. Help save lives.
Request a free presentation to learn important rail safety education that can help your group, students, or community stay safe near railroad tracks.