Westbury, NY – Authorities say three people were killed when their vehicle was struck by Manhattan-bound commuter train on Long Island.
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Nassau County police say the vehicle was “trying to beat the gate” when it was struck at an intersection in Westbury just before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police say all occupants in the vehicle were killed. Several passengers on the train also suffered minor injuries.
The Long Island Rail Road says it involved the 6:36 p.m. train from Ronkonkoma due at Penn Station at 7:56 p.m.
Service has been suspended in both directions on the Ronkonkoma and Huntington/Port Jefferson branches.
Video shows the upright train slightly off the tracks, its front damaged.
Numerous police and emergency personnel were at the scene.
That idiotic driver inconvenienced hundreds of commuters and took the lives of 2 passengers..
I can never understand the mentality of drivers who are in a hurry, who think that they can outrun a train, at a gate crossing. In the majority of these cases, such scenarios end in total disaster, as a car is no match for a train.
To: #3- I don’t know if you were legitimately questioning my statement, or just trying to be sarcastic. Those idiots, who try to race an oncoming train across the tracks, either before a gate goes down, or at crossings where no gate exists, usually don’t make it. Once an oncoming train hits their car or truck, they are dead. Granted, there are a minority of times, whereby drivers playing Russian roulette with their lives and the lives of their passengers, actually make it across the tracks, before getting struck by a train. However, they are in a distinct minority. I’ve read reports by law enforcement, which documents a driver who illegally drives across a crossing when he/she should not, as a signal has been activated that there is a train approaching. Then, one or more drivers in back think “if he/she made it, then so can I. Unfortunately, those drivers don’t always make it, and are killed. There was even an instance not that long ago in EY, whereby a motorist’s car was struck by a train, and was killed.