Most of the motor vehicle accidents we write about in this blog involved vehicles travelling on roads throughout the Pittsburgh area. There are however other types of vehicles a car may collide with. One of these types of vehicles is a train. Earlier this month a female motorist was involved in one such accident.

The incident occurred in McKeesport when the 65-year-old mistakenly turned onto the tracks. She had apparently intended to make the turn after first completely crossing them. When she turned onto the tracks she became stuck on them and called 9-1-1 for assistance. It was while she was on the phone with an operator that a train horn blew. At that point the operators instructed the woman to leave her car.

Shortly after the woman abandoned her vehicle it was hit by the train. Thankfully the woman was uninjured.

Some may wonder how it was possible for the woman to not realize that she was turning onto the train tracks. The answer is one that often plays a role in accidents occurring. In addition to being dark out, at the time it was also raining. This reduced visibility conditions greatly and was likely a contributing factor to the mistaken turn.

Others may wonder why other than the train's horn there were no other warnings that the train was coming. The crossing is equipped with gates but for some reason, prior to the train appearing, they were not activated. Had they been in use, it is possible that the woman's vehicle would not have ended up on the tracks.

Accidents involving cars and trains often result in catastrophic injuries to the occupants of the cars. The woman in this case was very fortunate that she escaped harm.

Source: KDKA, "Woman Escapes Car Moments Before Train Crash," Dec. 10, 2012