Train Crashes Into Truck at Highway 118 Crossing
A MetroLink train crashed into a pickup truck Monday that had stopped on the tracks alongside California 118.
There were no injuries, but the accident shut down a section of the busy highway for an hour.
Donald Nelson, 45, of Moorpark was driving a pickup west on the highway about 50 mph, according to the California Highway Patrol.
As Nelson approached a railroad crossing west of Grimes Canyon Road about 5:45 p.m., he said he did not notice at first that traffic was stopped at the crossing. Upon seeing the stopped cars, he braked and steered to the right, driving onto the shoulder, then onto the crossing.
Patrol officers said the driver apparently could not move the truck once it stopped on the tracks. With a westbound MetroLink train approaching at 70 mph, Nelson abandoned the truck.
The train slammed into the pickup, but no one aboard the train was injured.
The truck was destroyed, while the train sustained minor damage. The crash scattered wreckage throughout the area.
CHP officers closed the road to traffic at 6 p.m., opened one lane at 7 and both lanes an hour later.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
