(Tallahassee, Florida – April 26, 2013)
The driver of a Leon County Public Works 2009 Mack dump truck being used to haul sand was seriously injured at the dangerous, unguarded crossing of CSX railroad tracks and Road-to-the-Lake Road in Tallahassee, FL early Friday afternoon at about 12:46 P.M., when his vehicle was struck and heavily damaged by a CSX freight train consisting of two locomotives hauling 82 freight cars
Jerry Jones, 57, had no assistance from pavement markings or active protective systems such as flashing lights, bells and crossing gates, things a recent study made by the Association of American Railroads claim could prevent 93% of such collisions, and had to cope with the protective factor of standard, passive railroad crossbuck signs at the crossing which accommodates a daily average of seven CSX trains at a top speed of 60 mph. It was no contest.
The eastbound train struck the front driver’s side of Jones’s truck, spun it clockwise, and knocked out one of the crossbuck signs as well as a marker for fiber-optic cable buried along the railroad right-of-way. The victim was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted in serious condition.
The Florida Highway Patrol led response to the accident with assistance from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Leon County EMS, Tallahassee Fire Dept., Chaires-Capitola Fire Rescue, Leon County Road Dept., and CSX railroad police.
