Passenger Trains > 92 (24) Silver Star northbound hits errant auto

Today's northbound Silver Star, running about 25 minutes late, was at speed north of the Fort Lauderdale Station coming to the Oakland Park Boulevard crossing when a vehicle, for whatever reason, had not thoroughly cleared the crossing.  The train struck the errant car, slamming it into a wayside pole, killing the single occupant of the car.  The train was delayed about 3 hours at the scene (it was moved off the crossing to partially open the highway). The train connected with the passenger side rear.  

This location is just before an intersection with I-95; like all of the crossings like this in the area, this one has signs warning drivers not to stop on tracks.  At rush hour, there can be congestion at this location, but at 1:10pm traffic should have been flowing.  

The incident interrupted Tri-Rail service.  

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/transportation/fl-sb-amtrak-fatal-collision-20170324-story.html

 

Sad to hear about the death of the motorist, I hope the crew of the train made it out OK. That must be a terrifying experience.

Traffic spilling back across the tracks seems to be very common in south Florida. I've seen it in Palm Beach County, Martin County, St Lucie County, etc. Even in off hours, such as they are.

Enforcement doesn't seem to be a priority for deputies, I haven't seen any activity there.  (However there was a local sting for drivers who ignore the yield to pedestrian rules, bagged a few dozen motorists. People were enraged that the law was being enforced.)