(a) The department, using existing rail marketing funds, shall fully participate in the railroad public safety awareness program known as “Operation Lifesaver.” The department shall work with school officials to develop a school assembly program designed to enhance student awareness of the dangers of trespassing on railroad property, and the operating characteristics of trains. Initially, the school assembly program shall be implemented on the route of the department-sponsored Capitol Corridor. School officials shall cooperate with the department to identify the schools most affected by the operation of higher speed passenger trains.

(b) The department shall provide appropriate signs to be posted on or adjacent to railroad property within 1,000 feet of schools where upgrading of railroad lines has resulted in an increase of operating speeds of passenger trains on those lines by 20 mph or more on or after December 1, 1991. The signs shall be designed to communicate both in words and in pictures, using internationally recognized symbols, to warn of train-related hazards. The signs shall be posted on the school side of the railroad property at a site to be determined by school officials and railroad representatives. At the request of the department, a railroad that owns the property specified in this subdivision shall install and maintain the signs.

(c) For the purposes of this section, a “school” is any public school that maintains classes in kindergarten or of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

(d) The installation or maintenance of signs pursuant to this section shall not in any way affect the liability of the state or any of its agencies, officers, or employees, or of the owner of the railroad right-of-way, on account of personal injury or property damage alleged to have been caused, in whole or in part, by a sign, or the installation or maintenance of a sign, installed and maintained pursuant to this section.

(Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1182, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1994.)