The Children's Safety Village of Brant in Brantford, Ontario, now has the Look Listen Live rail safety symbol set into the sidewalk at its railway crossing. It's DecoMark preformed thermoplastic, heat-fused to the concrete where children practise crossing safely.
The Children's Safety Village of Brant, at 407 Elgin Street in Brantford, Ontario, is a miniature town where children aged 4 to 12 learn the basics of safety from local police and fire officers. Its streets have a working railway crossing, with a gate arm, signal lights and a signal case marked “Donated by CN”.
The sidewalk beside that crossing now carries a DecoMark marking of the Look Listen Live symbol: the yellow diamond with a locomotive and the campaign's address, looklistenlive.ca.
The message on the sidewalk
Look Listen Live is Operation Lifesaver Canada's rail safety campaign. Its videos show how quiet and fast an oncoming train can be, and how a train can look slower and farther away than it is. The campaign's line is “Stay back. Stay safe. Stay alive.”
Operation Lifesaver puts the stakes plainly: “Virtually every rail-related incident that leaves someone dead or injured could have been avoided.”
Why it works at a children's crossing
On the kindergarten visit, children practise how to stop, look and listen before they cross the village's roads. A marking on the sidewalk puts the same reminder where a child is already looking: at the ground, a few steps before the crossing.
What DecoMark is
DecoMark is HUB's custom graphics system: preformed thermoplastic, fabricated in the factory from vector artwork, then heat-fused to asphalt or concrete. Here it went onto the concrete sidewalk. It sits flush with the surface, so there's no edge to trip on, it's slip-resistant underfoot, and it holds its colour through freeze-thaw and plow seasons.
The same system makes community crests, wayfinding and recognition markers, as well as rail safety reminders like this one.
Bringing it to your community
A rail crossing near a school, a trail or a park path is a good candidate, and so is any safety message a municipality wants people to read at their feet. DecoMark is made from vector artwork, so a campaign symbol, a crest or a town's own message all work. Book a Lunch & Learn and we'll bring samples.
