PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A seizure caused a Tarentum woman to crash her car into a Norfolk Southern freight train at the Center Street crossing late Saturday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
After the accident, Melissa Ruediger, 19, was taken to Alle-Kiski Medical Center, Harrison, where she had “a bump on her head” but was otherwise alert and fine, according to police. Sunday evening a hospital spokeswoman said Ruediger was no longer a patient at the hospital.
Ruediger’s four-door sedan crashed into the coal train about 10:45 p.m. Saturday. The crossing gates at Center Street were inspected and determined to be working, police said.
Police believe Ruediger’s car hit one of the 100 cars in the train, and not the engine, because the engineer didn’t know the train was hit until it was several miles from Tarentum, police said.
The train started in Etna and was bound for the Shelocta Power Plant in Indiana County, said Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern spokesman. The train was heading toward Brackenridge and appeared to be within the 40-mile-per-hour speed limit for trains, police said.
Norfolk Southern could press charges against Ruediger of not yielding at a railroad crossing, but no decision has been made on that yet, Husband said.