(The following story by Imran Vittachi and Dan Lee appeared on The Press-Enterprise website on October 19.)
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A driver suffered broken ribs Thursday afternoon when a freight train struck his pickup after he drove around the warning gates near the intersection of Washington Street and Indiana Avenue in Riverside.
The 42-year-old Lake Elsinore man was driving north on Washington about 4:15 p.m., the Riverside Police Department said, when he ignored the gates and the warning bells and attempted to drive his Chevrolet Suburban over the tracks before the BNSF Railway train arrived.
His name was not released.
Two trains traveling in opposite directions were on the tracks at the same time when the westbound train struck the pickup, police said.
The driver, who suffered broken ribs, was cited on suspicion of driving on the wrong side of the road and driving around a railroad crossway, said Riverside police Lt. Steve Johnson.
The pickup was towed away by 5 p.m., and other motorists were seen turning around to avoid the crash.
The Washington rail crossing is included in a proposal that would install extended crossing gates that block the street on either side of the track, preventing motorists from driving around.
This month, the Riverside City Council authorized negotiations with BNSF to establish a “quiet zone” corridor from Magnolia Avenue in the unincorporated area southwest of Riverside to at least Arlington Avenue within the central part of the city.
A quiet zone is a street where trains are not required to blow their horns as they pass, because additional safety measures have been installed. The city would have to conform to federal railroad regulations to obtain the quiet-zone designation.
That would include installing extended crossing gates, adding pedestrian gates and extending medians.
The proposed corridor is more than seven miles long and encompasses the La Sierra Metrolink Station and 13 street-level crossings.