Woman Motorist Seriously Injured At Dangerous, Unguarded Michigan Crossing
(Clare, Michigan – December 27, 2011)
A 42-year-old local resident was seriously injured early Tuesday afternoon when her 2004 Ford Explorer SUV was struck on the driver’s side by a northbound Great Lakes Central Railroad freight train at the dangerous, unguarded crossing of GLC tracks and Dunlop Street in Clare, MI.
The crossing where Kristine Hubel’s SUV was hit has no automatic protection, instead relying solely on passive railroad crossbuck signs to warn motorists of the existence of railroad tracks.
The victim’s SUV was pushed north and then off to the west side of the railroad tracks, coming to rest in a wooded area. Hubel was first taken to Mid-Michigan Medical Center in Clare for emergency surgery, and was then transferred to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, MI, where she was listed in stable condition.
Great Lakes Central, which bills itself as “Michigan’s Largest Railroad” is a subsidiary of Federated Capital Corporation’s Federated Railways division, advertising that it is “Connecting Michigan in a reliable, safe, affordable and efficient manner,” even though its safety director handles car hire as her primary responsibility.
