An elderly driver cheated death in a terrifying rail collision that saw her vehicle pushed an astonishing quarter of a mile by a freight train before coming to a stop.
Thanksgiving Eve Miracle
The 82-year-old woman was driving along Route 535 near Stults Road in South Brunswick on Wednesday afternoon when she encountered flashing railroad warning signals. According to the South Brunswick Police Department, the woman believed she had stopped safely before reaching the tracks.
However, police confirmed her vehicle was actually positioned directly on the railway lines. At 3:05 p.m., a Conrail freight train collided with her grey sedan in a devastating impact.
The Harrowing Impact
The force of the collision propelled the woman's car approximately a quarter of a mile down the tracks before the train could brake to a halt. Dramatic photographs released by South Brunswick police show the vehicle sitting perpendicular across the rails as the massive train bears down on it.
Despite the violent nature of the accident, the woman suffered only a minor leg injury and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Authorities have not released the name of the remarkably fortunate driver.
Aftermath and Additional Tragedy
Emergency crews closed Route 535 for approximately two hours while they cleared the wreckage from the tracks, causing significant disruption in the area during the busy Thanksgiving eve.
Tragically, just hours after this incident, South Brunswick witnessed another serious collision. At 4:24 p.m., a 61-year-old local woman lost her life in a three-vehicle crash on New Road between Route 522 and Route 1. The victim was pronounced dead at hospital.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and South Brunswick Police Traffic Safety Bureau have launched separate investigations into both incidents, though they confirm the two crashes are completely unrelated.
