Pedestrian Christopher Davis, 19, was critically injured Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, when a Metra train plowed into a car near where he was trying to cross and pinned him under the train.
The accident happened on the Southwest Side of Chicago around 7:30 p.m. at a crossing near Pulaski Road and 87th Street. Three people were in the vehicle hit by the train, and they are also in critical condition.
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The surveillance video shows that the train’s crossing gate closed over the car’s trunk. The driver tried to reverse and then drove forward to the oncoming train. Davis was a pedestrian who was waiting to cross the intersection. The car hit Davis and pinned him under the train.
When emergency crews arrived on the scene, they removed the vehicle’s occupants. They transported two of the injured people to Advocate Christ Medical Center. One of the victims arrived in cardiac arrest. All four victims are in critical condition.
Attorney Ben Crane had installed a camera at the intersection to prove that it is not a safe crossing. In the past eight years, there have been four collisions at that intersection.
Crane believes the accident happened because the place the vehicle stopped was too far into the intersection. However, he said the 26-year-old driver was allowed to pull the vehicle that far forward and the issue is with the intersection’s design.
When the train started coming, the gates closed around the vehicle. Therefore, the driver could not back up or proceed forward out of the path of the train.
Both directions of the Southeast Line were halted for several hours following the Metra accident.