ApollosWorld
05-11-2007, 01:53 AM
RIVERBANK -- A driver who may have thought she was trapped at a railroad crossing drove onto the tracks and an Amtrak train slammed into her vehicle Tuesday, killing her and five young passengers, authorities and witnesses said.
All six occupants inside the silver 2001 Geo Tracker were pronounced dead at the scene, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Killian said.
"It appears an entire family was wiped out," Killian said, but he could not confirm the relationship of the occupants or where they were from.
Shawn Barlow, 38, of Turlock was in one of the cars behind the woman's SUV at the crossing.
"The cars in front of me started backing up," Barlow said. "When we all started backing up, she just went out on the tracks, just drove out on the tracks and she was gone."
Barlow, a concrete construction employee who was on his cell phone with his boss when the crash occurred, immediately called 911, as did other witnesses, the CHP said.
Killian said authorities did not find the sixth crash victim until after they were able to remove the bodies from the crushed SUV, which was wrapped around the front of the locomotive.
None of the 70 passengers on the train was injured, the CHP reported.
Killian said those killed were the driver, two teenage girls, a boy about 6 and two boys under the age of 3. Their identities or where they lived were not released.
The children remained inside the SUV after the crash, but the driver was ejected.
The two younger boys were riding in car seats, but it was unknown if the rest of the Geo's occupants were wearing their seat belts. However, Killian said, "it wouldn't have mattered."
According to Killian, the small SUV was at a stop sign at the tracks just west of the old Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant with its front end sticking out over the first rail.
As the train approached the crossing about 2 p.m., the driver heard the signals and tried to back up, but there were at least two cars behind her.
The arm of the crossing guard came down on her front windshield, but it sprang back up, as intended. The driver apparently panicked and pulled forward onto the tracks and into the train's path, Killian said.
"I guess she didn't judge how far she was from the train," Killian said. "It's hard to judge that closing speed."
Her reaction was the wrong one, he said.
"If she would've stayed where she was, (the train) could've missed her," Killian said.
The locomotive pushed the car about 1,900 feet before the engineer could stop the train, Killian said.
"It takes forever to stop," he said. "That's a lot of weight coming from that train."
He said the four-car train was traveling at 79 mph, which is the speed limit.
Bill Ingalls, 50, of Modesto was stopped in his Ford Explorer on the opposite side of the tracks from the SUV when the accident occurred.
"The bar came kind of like on her windshield, and I then started waving for her to go back, and she didn't back up," Ingalls said. "So I started to go back, thinking I knew there was going to be an impact.
"So I went back a few feet and still looking at her, and she still wasn't moving. She still wasn't trying to get backwards out of the way," he said. "At the last second, she pulled forward. She didn't really accelerate to try and beat the train or anything. She just pulled forward, literally right into the train."
Ingalls said the worst part was seeing the collision happen right in front of him.
The train was en route to Oakland from Bakersfield. Passengers had to wait several hours before they were taken off the train and rerouted onto another train to Oakland.
Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said two crew members were in the front car at the time of the crash.
"It's like a car going over a soda can. I'm sure the locomotive was affected, but it would take a lot to damage it," Graham said of the train's condition.
After a crash involving an Amtrak train, crew members can request time off, Graham said.
Killian said the CHP will offer counseling to its responders.
"When you see that many people at one time, and then the ages; you never get used to death," Killian said. "It affects us more so when they're children."
California had the second-highest number of deaths at highway-rail crossings in 2006, with 36, according to Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit rail safety organization based in Alexandria, Va. Texas led all states, with 42 fatalities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
All six occupants inside the silver 2001 Geo Tracker were pronounced dead at the scene, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Killian said.
"It appears an entire family was wiped out," Killian said, but he could not confirm the relationship of the occupants or where they were from.
Shawn Barlow, 38, of Turlock was in one of the cars behind the woman's SUV at the crossing.
"The cars in front of me started backing up," Barlow said. "When we all started backing up, she just went out on the tracks, just drove out on the tracks and she was gone."
Barlow, a concrete construction employee who was on his cell phone with his boss when the crash occurred, immediately called 911, as did other witnesses, the CHP said.
Killian said authorities did not find the sixth crash victim until after they were able to remove the bodies from the crushed SUV, which was wrapped around the front of the locomotive.
None of the 70 passengers on the train was injured, the CHP reported.
Killian said those killed were the driver, two teenage girls, a boy about 6 and two boys under the age of 3. Their identities or where they lived were not released.
The children remained inside the SUV after the crash, but the driver was ejected.
The two younger boys were riding in car seats, but it was unknown if the rest of the Geo's occupants were wearing their seat belts. However, Killian said, "it wouldn't have mattered."
According to Killian, the small SUV was at a stop sign at the tracks just west of the old Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant with its front end sticking out over the first rail.
As the train approached the crossing about 2 p.m., the driver heard the signals and tried to back up, but there were at least two cars behind her.
The arm of the crossing guard came down on her front windshield, but it sprang back up, as intended. The driver apparently panicked and pulled forward onto the tracks and into the train's path, Killian said.
"I guess she didn't judge how far she was from the train," Killian said. "It's hard to judge that closing speed."
Her reaction was the wrong one, he said.
"If she would've stayed where she was, (the train) could've missed her," Killian said.
The locomotive pushed the car about 1,900 feet before the engineer could stop the train, Killian said.
"It takes forever to stop," he said. "That's a lot of weight coming from that train."
He said the four-car train was traveling at 79 mph, which is the speed limit.
Bill Ingalls, 50, of Modesto was stopped in his Ford Explorer on the opposite side of the tracks from the SUV when the accident occurred.
"The bar came kind of like on her windshield, and I then started waving for her to go back, and she didn't back up," Ingalls said. "So I started to go back, thinking I knew there was going to be an impact.
"So I went back a few feet and still looking at her, and she still wasn't moving. She still wasn't trying to get backwards out of the way," he said. "At the last second, she pulled forward. She didn't really accelerate to try and beat the train or anything. She just pulled forward, literally right into the train."
Ingalls said the worst part was seeing the collision happen right in front of him.
The train was en route to Oakland from Bakersfield. Passengers had to wait several hours before they were taken off the train and rerouted onto another train to Oakland.
Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said two crew members were in the front car at the time of the crash.
"It's like a car going over a soda can. I'm sure the locomotive was affected, but it would take a lot to damage it," Graham said of the train's condition.
After a crash involving an Amtrak train, crew members can request time off, Graham said.
Killian said the CHP will offer counseling to its responders.
"When you see that many people at one time, and then the ages; you never get used to death," Killian said. "It affects us more so when they're children."
California had the second-highest number of deaths at highway-rail crossings in 2006, with 36, according to Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit rail safety organization based in Alexandria, Va. Texas led all states, with 42 fatalities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.