My Commuter Train Hit a Car

[spicedogs]

I knew that it was bound to happen. I ride a commuter train, and we go over too many street crossings. Hence, the commuter train has accidents. Many times it is a suicide and, because of it, the train is delayed or canceled. The poor passengers are not allowed to depart till the investigation is over. Sometimes, because of the type of carnage, it takes several hours. DNA sampling must be taken, etc. If the DNA is splattered all over the area, then it may take hours for the sampling and the investigation.

Anyway, I was wondering when I'd be on a train and be caught in an accident. Well, it happened tonight. Luckily, nobody got hurt, except the vehicle the person was driving.

We were two stations away from my stop. Because it just left the previous station, the train was going slowly (30-45 miles per hour). The gates at the crossing lowered, but the person was on the tracks. She was paying attention to the traffic light opposite the train tracks, not to the gate that was lowering and the blasting sound that the gates were giving off. When she heard the train's whistle, she started backing up. That was her lucky move. The train clipped the front of her car, mainly her bumper. She came out all shook up, but alive. We were not allowed to get off the train. All we could do was watch from the windows and take pictures. We had a reporter on board. He was allowed to descend the steps (not depart) and take pictures. He took my camera and took this shot:



The car was moved out of the accident area to make sure the driver was OK. You see the front of her car on the side of the lawn.




Same photo taken through the dirty window.





The woman is being tended to by the paramedics. This was taken with my iPhone througn a not-so-dirty window.

She was a lucky lady. From the looks of her, she must have been in her late 60s or early 70s. I saw her as she got out of the car. She was so shook up, poor soul. She will thank her lucky stars tonight. Who cares that her car is damaged? It's probably repairable. The main thing is that she is alive and well.



 

Comments

[divka.livejournal.com]

Well, you'd think not much would go wrong. But there are a surprising number of people each year that end up going under a Metro train.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

They are either stupid or want to do harm to themselves. I wonder whether metro has the same rules that MARC has: Mainly, no one is allowed to leave the train.