When a Brookhaven woman was killed in a train collision indowntown Brookhaven last week, it caused an awakening in Wal-MartDistribution Center’s Transportation Division.

Safety Manager David Simmons said the truck drivers andtransportation personnel are looking to reach out to elderlydrivers in Lincoln County with their safe driving presentations,specifically “Operation Lifesaver,” which is devoted to developingand maintaining safety habits at railroad crossings.

Operation Lifesaver and other driving safety courses taught bythe division have been successfully conveyed to several targetaudiences – like professional drivers and high school drivereducation classes – but the truck drivers and other transportationworkers have not yet brought elderly audiences into the fold.

“Seeing what happened last week just heightened our awareness ofthe need for these presentations in our home county,” Simmons said.”One life lost is one too many.”

Simmons said the transportation division plans to begin reachingout to churches, civic groups and community leaders in an effort tobring mature drivers to the distribution center’s safety courses,which feature video presentations and discussions with Wal-Martdrivers who are certified to teach the course through theMississippi Department of Transportation. The motto of OperationLifesaver is “Look, Listen, Live.”

Although he prefers that groups come to the center for theclasses, Simmons said the instructors would travel offsite to meetwith groups of elderly drivers if necessary. To schedule anappointment or learn more about Operation Lifesaver, interestedpeople may reach Simmons at 601-835-3685.

Simmons hopes to step up participation in the program by theelderly as soon as possible, because Mississippi’s rail crossingstatistics don’t look good.

According to data released last year by the Federal RailroadAdministration, the Magnolia State ranks seventh nationally in thenumber of fatal accidents at rail crossings, with 13 recorded in2008, or basically one fatality every 28 days.

Likewise, the state ranks 11th nationally in the number of allvehicle accidents at rail crossings, with 69 recorded last year, orone every six days.

Simmons said an average of 16 trains per day crossBrookhaven.

“Brookhaven needs this, because if you live anywhere inBrookhaven, you live within a half-mile of the railroad tracks,”said Wal-Mart truck driver Tim White, who helps teach OperationLifesaver.

Besides Operation Lifesaver, the transportation division alsoteaches the “Committed to Safety Honor Roll Program” for highschool driver education classes and the “Eisenhower InterstateHighway Presentation,” basically a history of highwaytransportation in the U.S. The division estimates that as many as400 new drivers take to the roads of Lincoln County each year.

“(Students) will be taught something here they don’t learn in ageneral driver’s safety class,” White said.

Every school in Brookhaven and Lincoln County, includingBrookhaven Academy, participates in the division’s programs, andalready 130 students have gone through the course this fallsemester.

Brookhaven’s Wal-Mart Distribution Center 6811 is the onlycenter in the state that offers the programs.