(April 18, 2026 – Slaughters, Kentucky)
A young man was tragically killed in a collision with a train on Saturday, April 18 at around 2:54 p.m. while delivering packages for Amazon in Slaughters, KY, in Webster County. The accident occurred on Slaughters-Elmwood Road, northeast of Slaughter, KY, and just west of U.S. Highway 41.
The victim has been identified as 23-year-old Dominic Biaggio Zangaro of Evansville, IN. According to a Facebook post made by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Zangaro was driving a Ford Transit van for his work for Amazon when the fatal crash occurred.
Inventory records from CSX supplied to the Federal Railroad Administration indicate that the Slaughters-Elmwood Crossing sees 10 total day and night trains that travel at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
Per CSX records, the crossing is equipped with crossbuck assemblies and yield signs but is entirely devoid of any active warnings, including gates, lights, and bells. Slaughters-Elmwood Rd runs parallel to the tracks on the western approach, complicating sight lines for motorists and potentially forcing them to have to fully turn to look over their shoulder. This poses significant risk to motorists, who are already traveling at 35 miles per hour and are tasked with safely maneuvering a narrow road and keeping an eye out for other drivers, animals, and/or objects. Additionally, there is significant vegetation on the roadway leading up to the approach that obstructs motorists’ view of the tracks until shortly before the crossing itself, drastically reducing the length of time that drivers have available to look over their shoulder, observe a train, determine the safest course of action, and follow through with it.
It is virtually certain that the installation of lights and gates at this crossing would have prevented this tragedy. Studies conducted over fifty years ago have demonstrated that the installation of lights and gates are up to 96% effective at reducing the risk of collisions at crossings.
The collision comes just over two months after a 25-year-old man was killed after being involved in a motorist-train collision in Robards, KY, less than 25 miles away from the Slaughters-Elmwood Crossing.
The crash remains under investigation by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office.