Driver ‘most likely’ drove through crossing arm, city spokeswoman says
Posted: Saturday, July 18, 2015
One man was killed
and two other people were injured Saturday evening when a Union Pacific
train hit a pickup in east Midland, according to city spokeswoman Sara
Bustilloz.
The driver, Midlander Paul Thompson, 61, died at the scene; the passengers — one male and one female, both 54 — were transported to Midland Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries, she said. The female was listed in critical condition and the male in serious condition Saturday night, she said.
The incident involved a train that was headed eastbound and a Dodge pickup heading northbound on Carver Street. Thompson drove through the downed crossing arm at the railroad’s Carver and Front streets intersection, Bustilloz said.
“I’m not sure what the reasoning was — you never know if it was a medical condition or something like that. That’s the kind of thing that would show up in an autopsy,” she said. “But all we can tell at this point is that the driver most likely drove through downed crossing arms.”
Shortly after crash, the train was stopped several hundred feet down the track after the brakes were applied and the mangled pickup was pushed several yards from the intersection because of the force of the impact. The crossing arm that Thompson drove through had been broken.
The site of the crash — which occurred about 5:30 p.m. — was within the designated “quiet zone,” where trains are not allowed to sound their horns unless a collision is imminent. However, it is currently unknown if the engineer sounded the horn as the train approached the intersection.
Midland police are conducting an investigation into the exact cause behind the crash, which is the second incident in nine days involving a Union Pacific train. A train hit a pedestrian the morning of July 9, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article.
Calls to Union Pacific were not returned Saturday night.
Thompson is the 18th person to die on roads in Midland County this year and the third this week, according to Reporter-Telegram records. A 52-year-old Big Spring man died Friday in a three-vehicle wreck at State Highway 349 and West County Road, and a 26-year-old Midland man died early Wednesday morning following a motorcycle wreck on Loop 250, according to previous Reporter-Telegram articles.
The driver, Midlander Paul Thompson, 61, died at the scene; the passengers — one male and one female, both 54 — were transported to Midland Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries, she said. The female was listed in critical condition and the male in serious condition Saturday night, she said.
The incident involved a train that was headed eastbound and a Dodge pickup heading northbound on Carver Street. Thompson drove through the downed crossing arm at the railroad’s Carver and Front streets intersection, Bustilloz said.
“I’m not sure what the reasoning was — you never know if it was a medical condition or something like that. That’s the kind of thing that would show up in an autopsy,” she said. “But all we can tell at this point is that the driver most likely drove through downed crossing arms.”
Shortly after crash, the train was stopped several hundred feet down the track after the brakes were applied and the mangled pickup was pushed several yards from the intersection because of the force of the impact. The crossing arm that Thompson drove through had been broken.
The site of the crash — which occurred about 5:30 p.m. — was within the designated “quiet zone,” where trains are not allowed to sound their horns unless a collision is imminent. However, it is currently unknown if the engineer sounded the horn as the train approached the intersection.
Midland police are conducting an investigation into the exact cause behind the crash, which is the second incident in nine days involving a Union Pacific train. A train hit a pedestrian the morning of July 9, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article.
Calls to Union Pacific were not returned Saturday night.
Thompson is the 18th person to die on roads in Midland County this year and the third this week, according to Reporter-Telegram records. A 52-year-old Big Spring man died Friday in a three-vehicle wreck at State Highway 349 and West County Road, and a 26-year-old Midland man died early Wednesday morning following a motorcycle wreck on Loop 250, according to previous Reporter-Telegram articles.