When you hear about a train impacting an occupied vehicle you probably assume the worst, and for good reason. Miraculously, however, a family of five survived a collision with a freight train this morning in Fort Worth.
The accident occurred this morning around 8:00 am on Bidderson Street, near the TCU campus. According to Fort Worth police, the accident occurred when the driver attempted to outrun a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train, which is never a good idea. The authorities stated further that the train was going about 25 miles per hour when it impacted the vehicle, a silver Chevy Avalanche, pushing it almost 70 yards down the track and causing the vehicle to flip completely upside down.
Incredibly, no one in this family of five was seriously hurt. A woman and her three children were taken from the scene to hospitals to be treated for their non-life-threatening injuries while the woman’s husband was treated at the scene of the accident for minor injuries.
It is always best to use an abundance of caution when crossing train tracks, because it is easy to misjudge distances, and trains are often moving faster than you think, a point emphasized by the Fort Worth police on the scene. And the average train, which travels well over 50 mph, requires over a mile to stop.