West Virginia Truck Driver and Passenger Seriously Injured at Dangerous, Unguarded CSX Crossing
(Waverly, West Virginia – April 2, 2018)
Two Belpre, WV men were sent to a local hospital for treatment of injuries they received after their empty 18-wheeler was struck by a CSX freight train. The collision occurred at the dangerous and unguarded crossing of CSX rails and Corbitt Hill Road in Waverly, WV about 9:37 A.M., EDT Monday morning.
Driver Larney F. Cole, 78, and owner/passenger James F. Lynn, 31, were sent to Marietta Memorial Hospital for treatment of lacerations, neck and back injuries as they headed their semi southbound on Corbitt Hill Road. The truck was struck by the empty CSX coal train at the crossing where the railroad maintains a fairly erratic schedule of about three trains a week which can operate at a maximum speed of 30 mph.
The unprotected CSX crossing is not equipped with any active warning devices, such as lights and gates. It is virtually certain that this collision would not have occurred if the crossing was equipped with active warning devices. Both CSX and Operation Lifesaver know that lights and gates are the most effective type of protection at railroad crossings. Studies that have been conducted over fifty years ago confirm that lights and gates offer the ability to drastically reduce the number of vehicle/train accidents by as much as 96%.
The road/rail crossing was the site of another collision in on September 16, 2016 when another CSX coal train struck a pickup truck.
