Elderly Female Motorist Injured By Amtrak Train When Trapped By Crossing Gate
(Union City, California – October 26, 2011)
An elderly female driver found herself stuck with a lowered railroad crossing gate blocking her escape as an Amtrak passenger train bore down upon her vehicle at 70 mph Wednesday morning about 7:50 A.M. at the H Street crossing in Union City, CA.
The victim received minor injuries when the southbound Capitol Corridor Train #523 virtually destroyed the front hood/engine section of her silver sedan, dragging the victim and her car a block before dislodging the car from the locomotive.
According to Union City Police Lt. Ben Horner, the woman was stuck between the crossing arm and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
“She didn’t think her car was far enough on the tracks to be in danger and didn’t want to back up and damage the railroad crossing gate.”
The unidentified motorist was transported to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries
