Woman escapes car stuck on tracks before train hits

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

A woman who drove her car onto railroad tracks just west of Interstate 15 at Craig Road this morning was able to get out of the car just before a train slammed into it.

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers said the woman, who is in her early 20s, turned onto the tracks after mistaking them for a road just after 6 a.m. The area can be confusing for motorists because there is so much road construction in the area, authorities said.

When the woman's green Dodge Stratus became stuck on the tracks, she heard the train horn blaring as it barrelled down the tracks behind her. She quickly bailed out of the car.

"She had high heels on, but she ran as fast as she could," Trooper Angie Wolff, a Highway Patrol spokeswoman said.

Wolff said it's a good thing the driver ran away from the tracks because when the train hit the left rear of the car, it was sent spinning off the track.

The woman, whose identity had not been released early this morning, failed a field sobriety test and she was arrested and taken into custody under suspicion of driving under the influence of one or more controlled substances, Wolff said.

The woman also will be charged with possession of controlled substances.

"She apparently had just about everything with her except marijuana," Wolff said. "She had cocaine, crystal meth, packets of a variety of different drugs."

The train engineer told investigators he could see the lights of the woman's car on the tracks from about a half-mile away and he immediately started sounding his horn and slammed on his brakes but was unable to stop, authorities said.

The accident did not interrupt today's train schedule.