(Independence, Missouri – November 20, 2011) A female passenger in a blue Ford Escort whose male driver allegedly drove around lowered Union Pacific Railroad crossing gates at the Pleasant Street/South Avenue crossing in Independence, MO early Sunday morning about 12:55 A.M. was killed when a UPRR freight train hit the car.
The driver and another male passenger were both seriously injured as the train shoved the auto several hundred feet before stopping. None of those involved were identified by police.
The crossing has been the site of seven previous vehicle/train accidents, but Sunday’s was the first fatality.