A train traveling 40 mph slammed into a truck at a crossing in South Royalton Wednesday morning, but the truck driver avoided injury.
Larry Severance, 63, of Royalton stopped his truck at the edge of the tracks and looked both ways, according to a Vermont State Police press release. However, he did not see the oncoming train until he was on the tracks. He threw his Ford F550 truck into reverse, trying to back off the tracks, but couldn’t do so in time.
Police arrived at 8:33 a.m. at the crash on Perley Farm Road. South Royalton Rescue took Severance to Gifford Medical Center for evaluation, although he did not appear to have injuries. Lyman’s Towing removed the truck from the tracks without incident and railroad officials reopened the tracks at about 9:30 a.m. The truck had only front-end damage, police said.
The rail crossing at Perley Farm Road has no gates or bars that block the tracks when a train is approaching, nor are there any lights to indicate a train is on its way, according to a statement from the investigating officer, Trooper Kyle Stevens, by way of Adam Silverman, spokesperson for the Vermont State Police.
“The bushes in some areas of the crossing are overgrown, and it does make it difficult to see an oncoming train,” Silverman stated. “We are unaware of any other crashes at this intersection within the past year or so.”
The crossing is well marked with signs on both sides of the crossing and along the main road, Route 107, which intersects with Perley Farm Road near the crossing.
Vehicle-train trashes occur “quite rarely” in Vermont, Silverman stated. In the last fatal car-train collision in the state, a Vermont Law School student was killed last November in South Royalton.
— Ella Ruehsen
