Ohio Teen on Bicycle Killed by Hidden, Second Norfolk Southern Train
(Huron, Ohio – July 31, 2015)
A 15-year-old boy who lived on the same Huron, OH road as a Norfolk Southern railroad crossing and just a quarter-mile away from his home was killed early Friday afternoon at about 1:30 P.M., EDT when he waited for the passage of one train and then peddled into the path of a second train.
Keegan Rarden of the 700 block of Berlin Road was the first person killed at the Norfolk Southern crossing after five non-fatal accidents.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Brett Gockstetter told The Sandusky Register that, even though the gates were still down after the passage of the eastbound NS freight, one of a daily average of 94 trains that cross Berlin Road at speeds as high as 69 mph, that “as soon as he got onto the westbound tracks, he was struck by the westbound train,” adding that “the boy ultimately did not see the train coming because his view was blocked by the eastbound train that had just passed by.”
The newspaper indicated that “two drivers saw the crash unfold and provided troopers with eyewitness accounts of the incident.”
“We’ll have to re-interview those witnesses,” said Lt. Gockstetter. “They were both really distraught and they had to leave,” he added.
A Go-Fund-Me account has been set up to help the victim’s family with final expenses.
