Father, Young Daughter Injured At Dangerous, Unguarded Rural CN Crossing
(Outagamie County, Wisconsin – February 11, 2012)
A 45-year-old Hortonville, WI man and his 12- year-old daughter were both seriously injured Saturday afternoon about 5:15 P.M. when their car collided with a Canadian National freight train at the dangerous, unguarded crossing of Rock Road and CNR tracks in rural Outagamie County, WI.
The man was driving westbound into the setting sun on Rock Road just west of County Road A when he caught a glimpse of the train, hit his brakes, and skidded on the icy crossing approach onto the road shoulder and was struck by the CNR freight train. The crossing is equipped only with standard, passive railroad crossbuck and highway stop signs, and has no automatic protective devices such as lights, bells or gates to prevent such accidents as occurred Saturday.
The man and his daughter both received serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, and were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Their car was extensively damaged in the collision with the train.
Staff Sgt. Bob Bekx of the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office was the investigating officer at the crash site.
