BGW
Jun 07, 2007, 08:54 AM
PLANADA -- An Oakhurst man and his son are lucky to be alive after their truck struck an Amtrak train off Highway 140 near Planada on Wednesday.
The accident occurred around 9:15 a.m. when 16-year-old Glenn Sailors was driving a 2003 Ford F150 truck westbound on Highway 140 with his father, 51-year-old Tim Sailors in the passenger seat, according to Officer Shane Ferriera of the California Highway Patrol.
Ferriera said the driver of the truck lost control of the truck after attempting to pass a slower moving car on the highway. The driver's truck then left the south edge of the roadway and drove on to the dirt area where the railroad tracks are located.
"Just at that time, an Amtrak train was headed eastbound at 79 miles per hour," Ferriera said. "The truck (then) sideswipes the train."
Although the truck hit one of passenger cars on the train, no one was hurt in the accident, Ferriera said.
The train, which was headed from Sacramento to Bakersfield, had to stop for 90 minutes because of the accident, causing delays for 62 passengers.
Ferriera said criminal charges probably will not be brought against the driver of the truck, although a passenger car of the train did sustain minor damage.
The train tracks were undamaged in the accident and one of the doors on the truck sustained moderate damage, Ferriera said. "If, for whatever reason, they had hit that train head on, that could have been really ugly," Ferriera said.
More:
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/local/story/13663239p-14255577c.html
The accident occurred around 9:15 a.m. when 16-year-old Glenn Sailors was driving a 2003 Ford F150 truck westbound on Highway 140 with his father, 51-year-old Tim Sailors in the passenger seat, according to Officer Shane Ferriera of the California Highway Patrol.
Ferriera said the driver of the truck lost control of the truck after attempting to pass a slower moving car on the highway. The driver's truck then left the south edge of the roadway and drove on to the dirt area where the railroad tracks are located.
"Just at that time, an Amtrak train was headed eastbound at 79 miles per hour," Ferriera said. "The truck (then) sideswipes the train."
Although the truck hit one of passenger cars on the train, no one was hurt in the accident, Ferriera said.
The train, which was headed from Sacramento to Bakersfield, had to stop for 90 minutes because of the accident, causing delays for 62 passengers.
Ferriera said criminal charges probably will not be brought against the driver of the truck, although a passenger car of the train did sustain minor damage.
The train tracks were undamaged in the accident and one of the doors on the truck sustained moderate damage, Ferriera said. "If, for whatever reason, they had hit that train head on, that could have been really ugly," Ferriera said.
More:
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/local/story/13663239p-14255577c.html