Insights

Lauren Blake has seen a few things in her working life … as a firefighter in Belfast for 10 years and four years in the Queensland Police Service. But it’s during the past 12 months as a train driver that she has witnessed one of her most terrifying incidents.

At the controls of a 700-metre train, there’s little the traincrew can do if a motorist makes a poor decision or gets distracted.

“I was taking a train out west and we were coming through Toowoomba and a car went through the level crossing, obviously ignored the flashing lights … the car passed in front of the loco so close, I couldn't actually see the car under the front of the loco,”  she said.

“If we were to clip them the likelihood of them surviving is highly unlikely. And also it could derail us.  I'm not going to get home to go to my kids and they're not going to go home. And then we'd be left with the guilt of that, I don't want that on my conscience.”

Respect the sign. Lives are on the Line.

Lauren is one of the faces behind Aurizon’s level crossing campaign, Respect the sign. Lives are on the Line.  She is a recent recruit to the rail industry, coming into Aurizon on a fast-track train driver program for people from the general community.

“I love it. I love the shift work. I love driving the train. I love knowing what the back of my trains doing so that I can handle it at the front. We drive a lot of routes that have hills and undulating track. So you have to always be aware of what's going on all along the length of the train,” she said.

“You have to stay focussed all the time and just be really, really aware and vigilant constantly. But it's also a privilege that you get to go where no one gets to go, it's beautiful.”

Family at the heart of safety

Lauren and her partner, both train drivers and shift workers, are parents to six children. This is at the heart of her plea to motorists to show extra care and take notice of warning signs at all level crossings.

“You have to observe those signals, observe those signs, because if you don't, it's going to be a tragic day for everybody involved. I don't want to have that on my conscience that somebody hasn't been paying attention or took that risk at the wrong time.

“I also want to come home at the end of the day, the end of my shift. I want to come home to my babies.

“Just to wait for that extra couple of minutes for us to pass safely, for them to then go safely. And it means lives, you know, it can cost lives.”

Watch the campaign video

You can watch the video with these important safety messages from Lauren, other rail colleagues and first responders here. You can also get a range of resources of level crossing safety to share in your community and in schools here.