Gold Line Hits Car at Avenue 57

1 Hurt When Metro Train Hits Vehicle

KCBS-TV
February 17, 2008

HIGHLAND PARK - A Metro train collided with a vehicle in Highland Park on Sunday night, injuring one man, according to a city fire official.

The crash took place around 8:50 p.m. and involved an MTA Gold Line train. It was reported near North Avenue 57 and Marmion Way, Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The driver of the vehicle sustained non life-threatening injuries and had to be transported to a hospital. However, no one riding the train was injured.

Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash.

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Gold Line Catches Fire After Hitting Car that Ran Through Crossing Gates

6 Injured When Train, SUV Collide In Highland Park

KCBS-TV
September 21, 2007

LOS ANGELES ― Authorities report a sport utility vehicle smashed through a crossing gate and broadsided a commuter train during Los Angeles' morning rush hour, causing a fire and injuring six people.

The Metro Gold Line train was heading from downtown Los Angeles north to Pasadena when it was struck shortly after 7 a.m. in the Mount Washington area.

The train caught fire but it was quickly put out.

Four train passengers, the train's operator and the SUV's driver were hurt in the crash but the injuries are not considered life-threatening.

The commuter train line carries passengers between Los Angeles' Chinatown and suburbs east of the city.

This is the second injury accident involving the Gold Line in less than two weeks.

On September 11th, seven people were injured when a pickup truck ran a red light at a non-gated crossing in the Highland Park area northeast of downtown and struck a train during the morning rush hour. The truck was pinned between the train and a concrete pillar.

The Gold Line opened in 2003.

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Six hurt in Gold Line collision

Pasadena Star
September 21, 2007

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A sport utility vehicle broadsided an MTA commuter train during the Friday morning rush hour, causing a fire and injuring six people in the second Gold Line crash in two weeks, authorities said.

The Metro Gold Line train was heading from downtown Los Angeles north to Pasadena when it was struck shortly after 7 a.m. in the Mount Washington area, said David Sotero, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"The SUV T-boned the train when the crossing gates were down," he said.

It was unclear whether the truck went around the lowered gate or smashed through it, he said. Televised reports showed the crossing gate broken off and lying on the ground. A witness told officials the SUV went around the crossing arm, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Ron Kegel said. About 20 people were on the train, he said.

The train was going about 20 mph when it was struck, Sotero said. Kegel said even at that speed, the operator didn't have time to avoid the vehicle. "The train is several tons. Just the inertia of going even 20 mph, it's going to take some distance before that train can stop," Kegel said.

The train caught fire. It was quickly extinguished but the train was significantly damaged, fire officials said. Four train passengers, the train's operator and the SUV's driver were hurt, but the injuries were not life-threatening, Sotero said.

The commuter train line carries passengers between Los Angeles and suburbs east of the city.

On Sept. 11, seven people were injured when a pickup truck ran a red light at a non-gated crossing in the Highland Park area northeast of downtown - two blocks away from Friday's accident - and struck a train during the morning rush hour. The truck was pinned between the train and a concrete pillar.

Gold Line Going 15 mph Injures 7, Crushes F-150 Like a Potato Chip Bag & Traps Motorist

7 hurt when Gold Line train hits truck at Highland Park crossing

Los Angeles Times
By Andrew Blankstein and Tami Abdollah
September 12, 2007

A Gold Line light-rail train carrying dozens of people hit a pickup during rush hour Tuesday morning in Highland Park, injuring seven people, authorities said.

The crash occurred shortly before 8 a.m. at a crossing at Avenue 55 and Marmion Way.

The 35-year-old driver of the pickup truck was taken to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena with unspecified injuries, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Suzan Young said.

The driver was awake and alert but was considered in critical condition because of the potential for internal injuries, a Fire Department official said.

The truck was severely damaged.

Six people on the train – including the operator and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy providing security on the train – were being treated for minor neck and back injuries, Young said.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said the southbound train was carrying as many as 60 people.

A witness told investigators the pickup driver tried to beat the train, which was passing through a crossing that has lights and bells but no gates, MTA spokesman Jose Ubaldo said.

“Either he disregarded the signals – and there are plenty going along that Gold Line, so he had to disregard it – or he wasn’t paying attention,” said d’Lisa Davies, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

She said she did not know whether all the signals were working Tuesday morning.

Among the injured passengers was a 52-year-old woman who jumped off the train after the crash and broke one of her legs.

MTA officials said trains usually travel 15 mph to 20 mph through the area, a narrow stretch of track that is blocks from the Highland Park station.

The 14-mile Gold Line, which opened in 2003, connects Pasadena and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

About 20,000 people travel the route daily. Each car holds up to 144 passengers and costs $2.36 million.

Shuttle buses took passengers to stations south and north of the accident.

Heavy equipment was brought in to move the train.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com
tami.abdollah@latimes.com

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7 Injured When Gold Line Train, Truck Collide

KCBS-TV
September 11, 2007

LOS ANGELES ― Seven people were injured today, one of them critically, when a Metro Gold Line train collided with a pickup truck in the Highland Park area, authorities said.

The train was southbound when it collided with the pickup at 7:54 a.m. in the 100 block of North Avenue 55, said Metro's Jose Ubaldo. According to a witness, the truck may have run a red light, he said.

Firefighters freed the driver of the pickup, and paramedics took him to a hospital in critical condition, said d'Lisa Davies of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A half-dozen people on the train -- four passengers, the train's operator and a sheriff's deputy -- complained of neck and back pain, Ubaldo said.

Rail service was interrupted until 1:30 p.m., he said.


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• LAFD_Alert
  
• Pictures of the accident in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune
  

Blue Line at 5 mph Traps Compton Motorist in Wreckage

Driver Hospitalized in Crash With Train
Blue Line: Man is trapped in wreck for two hours after driving around crossing barriers

Los Angeles Times
By Doug Shuit
December 11, 1997

Rescuers worked for nearly two hours Wednesday to free a motorist trapped in the crumpled wreckage of his auto after it was hit by a Blue Line train as he tried to beat it through an intersection in Compton, authorities said.

The Los Angeles-bound commuter train was traveling at 5 mph when it struck a compact car driven by Ricardo Gonzalez, 25, of Lynwood, dragging the vehicle about 20 feet before stopping near a rail station at Compton Boulevard and Willowbrook Avenue. The auto came to rest wedged between the train and a train signal pole.

The wreckage was so tangled that Compton firefighters had to struggle for almost two hours to free Gonzalez after the 3:59 p.m. accident. He was immobile for a time, but could communicate with firefighters, who used hydraulic tools to cut him free.

Police said Gonzalez, who was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, suffered fractured legs in the accident. One of the estimated 200 passengers aboard the Blue Line train was slightly injured.

Gonzalez was headed west on Compton when he drove around the crossing barriers and was hit by the commuter train, authorities said.

"This accident didn't need to occur," Compton Police Capt. Steven Roller said, noting that the warning lights at the intersection were in working order.

Jesse J. Diaz, a manager with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the Blue Line, said: "Everybody has to understand that trains do not stop quickly, even at a slow rate of speed. Cars are no match for these trains."

An MTA spokeswoman said the situation was complicated by a Union Pacific freight train that was partially blocking the intersection at the time the Blue Line train approached. Several motorists grew impatient with the delay caused by the freight train and drove around the crossing barriers, MTA spokeswoman Marion MacKenzie said.

Gonzalez also tried to do this, but was hit by the commuter train, she said.

The accident not only snarled vehicular traffic in the area but also disrupted rail traffic, delaying Blue Line trains for several hours. MTA officials estimated that the train sustained $100,000 in damage.

Roller said Gonzalez could be cited for going into the intersection after the crossing barriers were lowered. A fine could range as high as $300.

Times staff writer George Ramos contributed to this story.

Blue Line at 10 mph Kills Elderly Couple

2 Killed as Car Goes Through Traffic Signal and Collides With Blue Line Train

Los Angeles Times
December 18, 1992

Two people were killed Thursday night when their car collided with a Blue Line commuter train in Long Beach, authorities said.

RTD spokesman Jim Smart said the accident occurred about 7 p.m. when the car failed to stop at a traffic signal and was struck by the train as it approached a station near 1st Street and Pine Avenue.

Smart said the victims, whose identities were not immediately available, were an elderly man and woman. The male driver of the car was pronounced dead at St. Mary's Hospital in Long Beach. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Authorities said the train had slowed to 10 m.p.h. in preparation for a stop at the Transit Mall Station, near the southern terminus of the commuter line. The impact crushed the car against the station platform, RTD officials said.