(Rosedale, Maryland – August 8, 2012)
An as-yet unidentified male motorist, driving a gray Volvo, was seriously injured early Wednesday afternoon when his vehicle was struck by a CSX container stack freight train at the dangerous, unguarded crossing of CSX railroad tracks and Schafers Lane near Rosedale in Baltimore County, MD.
The train consisted of three locomotives and eight articulated container platform rail cars. It was traveling from Jacksonville, FL to North Bergen, NJ in territory allowing speeds of up to 50 mph when it struck the Volvo before the driver saw it, at the Shafers Lane/CSX crossing. This crossing is protected only by a lone passive crossbuck sign, lacking any active protective devices such as flashing lights, bells or crossing gates, the likes of which have been proven to prevent more than 90% of such vehicular/train accidents.
Baltimore County Police Spokesperson Louise Rogers-Fehrer said the man was nearly over the crossing before he even saw the train, one of over a dozen which cross there daily.
The victim was taken to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where he was admitted in serious condition. The accident was the ninth recorded at the crossing, which now have resulted in one death and two serious injuries, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
