(Turlock, California – September 19, 2011)
A large, double-trailer truck carrying tomatoes became stuck on Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks at the crossing of Greer Road in Turlock, CA Monday afternoon about 1:40 P.M., and was struck by an Amtrak train carrying 163 passengers, 20 of whom complained of various injuries resultant from the crash.
The truck’s second trailer extended across the tracks as the driver attempted to get his load through the stop sign at Santa Fe Drive. The crossing is notorious for its inability to fit trucks between the BNSF tracks and the paralleling Santa Fe Drive. The driver jumped from the cab of his truck, and the train hit the second trailer, scattering and smashing thousands of tomatoes across the accident scene.
The Greer Road crossing has lights and gates, but nothing warned the driver of the oncoming train as he tried to cross the tracks. The injured Amtrak passengers were taken by ambulance to Doctors Medical Center and Memorial Medical Center, both in Modesto, CA.
