Selby, Wilson Named Recipients of Operation Lifesaver 2016 National Safety Awards
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, May 13, 2016 – Railroad safety nonprofit Operation Lifesaver (OL, www.oli.org) presented national safety awards highlighting individual achievements in preventing deaths and injuries around tracks and trains to Lynn Selby of El Mirage, Ariz., and Dr. Lanny Wilson of Hinsdale, Ill. Selby received the F. Tom Roberts Memorial Volunteer Award for his rail safety education outreach efforts in Arizona; Wilson received the OL Champion Award for being a champion of rail safety education to prevent vehicle-train collisions in Illinois and nationally. The awards were presented at a banquet during the Operation Lifesaver Leadership Conference here, which carried the theme “Rail Safety – A Mission for Life.”
“We are proud to present these awards to Lynn Selby and Lanny Wilson, honoring them for their dedication to saving lives on behalf of Operation Lifesaver,” said Bonnie Murphy, president & CEO of Operation Lifesaver, Inc. “These individuals exemplify the passion and creativity of our volunteers and partners, who are making a difference every day in their communities.”
Selby, a City Council member for City of El Mirage, Arizona, has been an Operation Lifesaver volunteer since 2011, when his concerns about the number of crossing incidents in his area brought the nonprofit organization to his attention. In 2015, Selby conducted presentations to professional drivers, school groups, driver education classes and school bus drivers, reaching nearly 1,200 people in the greater Phoenix area. In his time as an OL volunteer, he has reached 40,000 people in the state of Arizona. Selby’s interest in educating the recreational vehicle community about railroad crossing safety led to his development of materials specifically for RV drivers.
Wilson, a physician who is vice president of the DuPage County Board of Health, co-founded the DuPage Railroad Safety Council (DRSC) in 1994 with a mission of eliminating deaths and injuries at railroad crossings and along railways after his daughter was killed in a crossing collision. Since its founding, the DRSC has contributed to many rail safety improvements in Illinois. Wilson has also served as a media spokesman for OL’s “See Tracks? Think Train!” safety campaign for drivers and pedestrians.
Eight additional nominees for the F. Tom Roberts award were also recognized at the dinner: Mike Fulton of Fresno, California; Del Kittendorf of Marietta, Georgia; Chris Arvas of Pocatello, Idaho; Thomas Schmitt of New Orleans, Louisiana; Allison Terrell Halvorson of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Rob Hemming of Dalton, Minnesota; Tammy Wagner of Chicago, Illinois; and Robert Wilbur of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Started in 1994 in memory of a man who dedicated the majority of his life to reducing or eliminating death and injuries along railroad tracks, the F. Tom Roberts Memorial Award honors an individual who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to safety in the number of volunteer hours committed to Operation Lifesaver annually, the nature of volunteer activities performed, and other personal contributions to the Operation Lifesaver program.
Established in 2010 to recognize people inside or outside of the Operation Lifesaver program who advance OL’s community safety goals, the OL Champion Award honors an individual who through their work has contributed significantly to the mission of Operation Lifesaver, in any of the three “E” components of rail safety: education, enforcement or engineering.
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Congrats to #OperationLifesaver Safety Award Recipients Lynn Selby and Dr. Lanny Wilson!
About Operation Lifesaver
Operation Lifesaver's mission is to end collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and along railroad rights of way. A national network of trained volunteers provides free presentations on rail safety. Learn more at http://www.oli.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
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