Train Collides With Car Driving Around Crossing Gate, 2 People Killed

According to police, two people were killed when a faster commuter train collided with their car as the driver attempted to navigate around the crossing gate.

This happened at Brightline, near Miami, Florida on Thursday morning.

When the car attempted to pass through the crossing gate, the lights flashed and bells rang to warn of an approaching train, according to police and Brightline train officials.

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Following the collision, the blue Toyota was left mangled on the other side of the street.

According to officials, no one on the train was hurt.

“This was a tragic event caused by an individual driving around the downed gates with flashing lights and bells ringing, signaling an approaching train,” Brightline said in a statement.

WSVN reported that Caesar Tavares, who lives nearby in Aventura, heard the crash.

“I knew right away that the train had hit someone because it was very loud.” The car was on the move. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! “Then it just stopped,” he explained.

Tavares told the station that he frequently sees people attempting to circumvent the gates.

“The train comes here every 15 minutes and people are always stopping on the tracks,” he said. “I knew it was bound to happen.”

The trains only recently started running again after being shut down at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

A man was walking on the tracks in North Miami Beach earlier this month when he was hit by a Brightline train. It was at least the 49th incident involving a Brightline train since the line’s debut in mid-2017 from Miami to West Palm Beach.

According to federal records obtained by the Associated Press, Brightline has more fatalities per mile than any other railroad in the United States, with one occurring every 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers). Since 2018, approximately 1,200 people have been killed by trains in the United States on an annual basis.

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