Fatal accident snarls Metra service
A 91-year-old man died Tuesday
morning after a freight train smashed into his car on the tracks in Westmont,
possibly after he drove around crossing gates.
The accident occurred at about 10
a.m. at Cass Avenue and the BNSF Railway tracks, near the village's Metra
station.
Authorities are still investigating
the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, but witnesses told officials it
appeared Louis Lome of Westmont was circumventing the lowered railway crossing
gates when his car was hit by the freight.
Westmont Fire Department Capt. Craig
Skala said the car was dragged by the train for a short distance and the impact
destroyed it.
The accident snarled traffic in
downtown Westmont and delayed several Metra trains on the BNSF Metra line
between Aurora and Chicago by up to one hour and 10 minutes.
The train, an empty BNSF train that
had been carrying coal, was traveling west at between 35 mph and 40 mph,
railway director of public relations Steve Forsberg said.
The gates and warning signals had
been tested and were found to be working, Forsberg said, adding "there
were 41 seconds of warning time."
Illinois is fourth among the top 15
states for highway-rail grade crossing collisions with 151 in 2007, according
to Operation Lifesaver, a train safety organization.
Forsberg said incidents were
declining but about 50 percent of crashes occur when gates are lowered and
warnings are sounding.
In general, "we've become too impatient as a culture.
It's not worth a human life to try and beat the train," Forsberg said.