SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 31, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Police said a driver apparently didn’t see a Union Pacific freight train standing on the tracks late Friday night, until he drove into it.
The accident, with no injuries but some significant damage to the man’s car, occurred shortly before 11:45 p.m. in the area of 1800 South and 700 West, where there are no rail crossing arms and no lights, Salt Lake City Police Lt. Carlos Valencia said.
Valencia told Gephardt Daily the adult male driver, who was alone in the car, was briefly distracted by another vehicle making a U-turn and he failed to see the flatbed rail car in the dark intersection.
Valencia said there were no contributing factors such as speed or alcohol, and no one was cited. The incident has been designated an “industrial accident” rather than a traffic accident.
The driver of the car was clearly shaken up by the sudden impact, but was otherwise uninjured, Valencia said.
