MARCH 8, 2015
CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. (CBSNEWYORK/AP)
A driver got stuck between railroad crossing gates and
escaped, not far from the crossing where a fiery crash between a train and
another car killed six people last month, police said.
But on Saturday, the driver freed her car by backing up and
breaking a crossing arm, Westchester County officials said.
The Journal News reported that Cynthia Parent, 67, told
police she was crossing the Metro-North Railroad tracks on Roaring Brook Road
in Chappaqua when a gate came down, trapping her.
Last month in Valhalla, about 6 miles south of Chappaqua, an
SUV on the tracks was hit by a train. The driver and five passengers on the
train were killed.
Last week, two Long Island Rail Road trains struck vehicles
that were on the tracks. In both crashes, the vehicles’ drivers are believed to
have ignored the ringing bells and flashing warning lights.
The drivers suffered non-life-threatening injuries in both
collisions, and no one aboard the trains was hurt.
//---------------------------------------//
ONE PERSON HURT WHEN LIRR TRAIN STRIKES CAR IN PATCHOGUE;
PUSH ON FOR SAFETY UPGRADES
MARCH 3, 2015
PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (CBSNEWYORK)
A Long Island Rail Road train struck a car in Patchogue on
Tuesday morning, the second such LIRR crash in as many days.
The repeated grade crossing accidents have spurred calls for
federal legislation to improve railroad safety.
The collision took place around 12:09 p.m. at the crossing
on Rider Avenue.
The door of the car had to be cut off so that the driver,
identified as Gary Calderone, could be removed. The 67-year-old from Shirley
was placed on a backboard before being taken to Brookhaven Memorial
Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Officials said the railroad gates were down at the time of
the accident. A witness said the driver of the gray Ford Focus went around
the gate and was struck on the driver’s side.
None of the 13 people aboard the train, which left Babylon
at 11:27 a.m., were injured.
Authorities said Calderone was given a summons for driving
around the railroad gates.
The tracks on Rider Avenue are next to Swezey Fuel
Company. An employee there said the car slammed into the building
after being struck by the train.
“It sounded like a train was derailing,” the man said. “We
could feel the vibration. And the train goes by every day. This was not like
that.”
Lee Harrison also witnessed the incident.
“It’s crazy,” Harrison said. “These people are in such a
rush to get somewhere. You don’t go through when the gates are down.”
Footage from the scene showed the crushed car resting near
the wall of the Swezey Fuel building. The railroad crossing sign was also
demolished.
Service on the Montauk branch between Patchogue and Speonk
was suspended briefly after the accident.
On Monday, an LIRR train traveling from Long Beach to
Penn Station struck a sport-utility vehicle at a crossing in East Rockaway.
Jennifer Garvey was driving to work on when her SUV was
struck.
Garvey, 63, of St. Albans, Queens, said she did not even
know she’d been hit until after the fact.
“I look up, and then I realized I got in an accident, and I
was so scared,” Garvey said.
She remembers gaining consciousness when paramedics pulled
her from the crushed vehicle.
“I panicked at first,” she said. “I was in the ambulance
shaking, and the lady was telling me to keep calm.”
Garvey was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital
in Oceanside with neck and back injuries.
The two LIRR scares happened a month after a Metro-North
train killed a woman in an SUV on the tracks, and five others on board the
train, in a crash and fire in Valhalla, Westchester County.
As CBS2’s Weijia Jiang reported, U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick
Maloney, D-N.Y., is trying to pass federal legislation to improve safety
measures at crossings.
“We were able to act very quickly following the tragedy in
Valhalla. And working across the aisle, we put language in the bill that is
moving this week in Congress,” Maloney said. “I think we’re going to get it
through the House tomorrow.”
Last year, grade crossing accidents killed four people in
the Tri-State Area, and injured many others – seven in New York state, 16 in
New Jersey and 10 in Connecticut.
The Federal Railroad Administration has been trying to
reduce those numbers with a new campaign, which includes working more closely
with law enforcement to keep drivers off the tracks.
//-----------------------------------------//
LIRR TRAIN STRIKES VEHICLE ON TRACKS
MARCH 2, 2015
EAST ROCKAWAY, N.Y. (CBSNEWYORK)
Service has been restored with residual delays in
both directions on the Long Island Rail Road’s Long Beach Branch between Long
Beach and Valley Stream.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the
temporary suspension Monday afternoon was due to a train that struck an
unauthorized vehicle that was on the tracks.
MTA police said the 12:09 train from Long Beach to Penn
Station hit a Toyota Highlander SUV at the Rocklyn Avenue grade crossing
in East Rockaway around 12:25 p.m.
A witness told authorities the SUV driver — described as an
elderly female — was heading south on Rocklyn Avenue when
she drove onto the grade crossing despite flashing red warning
lights and crossing gate bells ringing as the train approached the
intersection.
According to MTA police, the gates came down behind the SUV
while it was still on the tracks and the train, which had just left the Centre
Avenue station and hit the rear of the vehicle, pushing it off the
tracks.
The driver survived the crash and was taken to South
Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside with neck and back injuries, WCBS 880
Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reported.
MTA police said debris from the collision was spread over
both eastbound and westbound tracks, forcing the temporary suspension in both
directions.
There were no reports of injuries to the approximately 60
passengers on the train.
The train was taken out of service and the passengers were
transferred to the next westbound train, the MTA said.