By Steven Symes 
Footage of a Jeep SUV being rear ended by a pickup truck at a train crossing in Layton, Utah, then in turn hit by a train is shocking. After all, it’s scary to think someone who is following too close and/or not paying attention could push you into the path of a speeding train. But these types of accidents happen more often than you’d probably want to know.
Watch a street takeover participant try pushing a state trooper out of the way.
The footage shows the whole accident unfold and there are some valuable lessons here. First off, the person driving the truck should’ve been paying closer attention. Or it’s possible that driver was trying to beat the crossing arms for the tracks and expected the SUV driver to do the same.
Either way, he touched off the chain of events. After the SUV was hit and ended up on the tracks, the driver tried reversing off them. But once the back of her vehicle touched the crossing arm that was down, she just stopped.
A Utah Transit Authority official told KSL those arms are designed to break away if you drive into them hard enough. In other words, had she kept reversing she would’ve pushed past the arm, maybe doing a little bit of damage to her vehicle.
Instead, she abandoned the Jeep, which got walloped by the commuter train. Not only was the SUV likely totaled, the train suffered about $100,000 in damages. This is why UTA would’ve rather the Jeep driver had damaged the crossing arm.
Another big question is why the Jeep driver didn’t just pull forward. After all, there wasn’t a crossing arm on the other side of the tracks. The answer isn’t obvious, but we suspect panic might have set in and she wasn’t thinking clearly.
Should you find yourself in a similar situation, get your vehicle off the tracks and quickly. Pull forward, reverse, break the crossing arm, just get free of the train. Also, pay attention and don’t hit the car in front of you at railroad crossings.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt in this crash. We don’t know if the pickup driver was cited, but he should’ve been.
Image via KSL News/YouTube