Glenbard to host Jan. 21 webinar about safety near train tracks
The Glenbard Parent Series: Navigating Healthy Families will present a panel discussion on rail safety at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21.
Go to glenbardgps.org for the link to this live virtual event. Questions may be submitted to gilda_ross@glenbard.org prior to the event.
Every three hours, a person or vehicle in the U.S. is hit by a train, according to the National Traffic Safety Board. That translates to 2,100 Americans who are killed or seriously injured around tracks. It can take more than a mile to stop a train - the equivalent of about 18 football fields, making it difficult if not impossible for a train to avoid collision.
The goal of the Jan. 21 GPS program is to educate, raise awareness and empower the public to stay safe near highway-rail grade crossings and understand the rules of railroad rights-of-way.
Dr. Lanny Wilson has made it his mission is to keep families safe around trains after his daughter, Lauren, died in a train accident in 1994. Wilson, who is chairman of the DuPage Railroad Safety Council, will share his daughter's story.
Also serving on the panel are licensed clinical psychologist Jason Washburn, who is a consultant at Amita Behavioral Medicine, a director of graduate studies and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University, and director of research in the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children's Hospital; Brian Vercruysse, P.E. rail safety program administrator with the Illinois Commerce Commission; Kurt Blodgett, senior manager risk management with Union Pacific; and Hilary Konczal, Metra's chief safety and environmental officer.
The Glenbard Parent Series is generously sponsored by the Cebrin Goodman Center, Community Consolidated School District 93 Birth to 5 Community Coalition, Cooperative Association for Special Education (CASE), College of DuPage, DuPage Medical Group, Emmy Gaffey Foundation, Glenbard Early Childhood Collaborative, Holiday Inn/Carol Stream, Kiwanis Clubs of District 9, and Prevention Leadership Team of the DuPage County Health Department. This program is also sponsored in partnership with the following villages: Carol Stream, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, Lombard, Villa Park, Elmhurst, and Wheaton.
For further information, visit glenbardgps.org or contact Gilda Ross, Glenbard District 87 student and community projects coordinator, at 630-942-7668 or gilda_ross@glenbard.org.