A video obtained by ABC News shows a train smash into an 18-wheeler, with the driver narrowly avoiding the collision.
The incident occurred near Interstate 75 in Georgia’s Bartow County early in the morning Tuesday, according to ABC News.
In the video recorded by a driver behind the truck, the 18-wheeler can be seen stopped across the train tracks as the railroad crossing arms appear to be down with flashing red lights. The train’s horn can be heard blaring as the truck’s driver-side door opens and a man appears to jump out. The driver recording then reverses away from the anticipated collision.
The driver of an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer is lucky to be alive after he narrowly escaped a massive collision with an oncoming train outside Atlanta on Tuesday. https://t.co/LCLXq1aPko pic.twitter.com/htyxBvtSzR
— ABC News (@ABC) June 12, 2024
The train then slams into the truck with a loud bang, sending it backward as it completely falls apart. Debris can be seen flying across the road as the train continues on. The train’s brakes then appear to squeal as it slows down following the crash.
“The engineer and conductor both stated that they could see the truck stopped on the tracks — they started breaking as soon as they saw the truck, but they were not able to stop in time,” Lisa Fuller, captain of the City of Emerson Police Department, told ABC News.
“There were no injuries — thankfully,” Fuller told the outlet. “There’s been incidents before where the drivers weren’t able to get out of the vehicles.” (RELATED: Terrifying Video Shows Train Crashing Into Semi-Truck, Derailing).
This is reportedly the eighth known incident at this train crossing from 2017 to the present, but none of the previous ones resulted in collisions with trains, according to authorities. In other instances, trucks have stalled at the crossing due to the difficult turning radius nearby, officials added, the outlet reported. However, authorities reportedly said this is the first time a truck has become stuck there.
The driver was given a citation for driving over a railroad crossing without having adequate space to avoid coming to a halt, according to authorities, the outlet reported.
