Rail safety campaigner and former New Zealand international test cricketer Chris Cairns will be announcing a nationwide campaign today aimed at reducing the number of collisions and near collisions at level crossings.

Chris will be launching the CALL IT IN campaign which is a nationwide blitz on the reporting of near misses between vehicles and trains.  

“Our hope is that by getting the message out there that train drivers are reporting everything that they see to the Police, motorists and pedestrians might be less likely to take dangerous risks,” says Chris.

 “It’s pretty disappointing to see that even since this campaign has been running there has been 17 reports of drivers not obeying the warning signs and taking risks around the railway.  Even more frightening, is that of those reports, 40 per cent happened at crossings where there were flashing lights and bells operating.”

The campaign is being run as part of National Rail Safety Week 2010, which begins today and runs for the rest of this week.  CALL IT IN is supported by KiwiRail, NZ Police, Veolia Transport, Tranz Metro, Taieri Gorge Railway and the NZ Automobile Association.

Another former Kiwi cricket legend and father of Chris, Lance Cairns has been helping the campaign by visiting all the major railway depots to meet as many locomotive engineers as possible to promote the initiative.

“We know that KiwiRail and Veolia Transport have robust processes in place to deal with reporting collisions and near misses, but I’ve been encouraging the drivers to keep on doing it, so that the Chris Cairns Foundation can get a good picture of what’s happening out there, and direct its activities accordingly,” Lance says.

This year there has been 24 vehicle level crossing collisions at both public and private level crossings.  Remarkably noone has lost their lives in these collisions although many have suffered serious injuries.  

One person has died this year in a pedestrian level crossing incident, and five people have died in other incidents on the tracks.

“This highlights even more the continuing need to educate people to always take extra care and follow the warning signs at level crossings, not to trespass and to only cross the rail corridor at official level crossings,” Chris says.

The impetus for the creation of the Chris Cairns Foundation was the tragic death of Chris's sister and Lance’s daughter Louise, who was killed in 1993 when a cement truck failed to stop at a level crossing in Rolleston and collided with the Southerner passenger train. Two other young women also died in this accident.

The Foundation aims to raise public awareness of the responsibility each and everyone has when approaching level crossings on New Zealand's rail network. Through awareness and education its aim is to reduce loss of life, harm and suffering for the victims of rail accidents.