Driver Ditches Car to Flee Train

A driver narrowly averted disaster Wednesday when she bailed out of her stalled car moments before it was hit by a Metrolink train at a railroad crossing near Burbank Airport.

The front driver’s side of the Toyota was pinned underneath the 450-ton locomotive and dragged the length of a football field.

The unidentified female driver was visibly shaken but unhurt in the collision, which occurred at 9:20 a.m. at Clybourn Avenue near Vanowen Street.

The woman, who refused to give her name, would not comment on the accident.

Burbank Police Sgt. Pat Lynch said the driver had almost cleared the railroad crossing when her car suddenly stalled. Soon after, the crossing gates dropped and the woman abandoned her vehicle, which rolled back and was struck by the train on the northbound track.

“This train wasn’t going very fast, only about 30 mph.” Lynch said, marveling at the victim’s luck. “Sometimes they come through at 60 mph.”

Metrolink service was delayed for about an hour on the northbound tracks. Passengers on the train, bound for Chatsworth, were transferred to buses and shuttled to their station stops.

“Any train is a force to be reckoned with,” said Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo. “When your vehicle stalls on the tracks, it is wise to abandon the vehicle and get as far away as possible. Our trains take a third of mile to stop. More times than not, these incidents become fatalities.”