WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Truck Driver Witnesses Morning Train Accident
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Samuel Osborne says he saw the train collide with one of the tractor trailers stopped on the tracks.
Truck driver Samuel Osborne was driving his daily route to the port, but he had no clue that today he would have a near death experience. "I thank God I'm still living because one of those containers could've flipped up and landed on my truck," said Osborne.
Around 9am, a train collided with two trucks at Dean Forest Road and Highway 21. The two trucks were in the northbound lanes on Dean Forest on the tracks when they were both hit by a cargo train traveling eastbound. See Train and Trucks Collide at Hwy 21 and Dean Forest Road.
Osborne was parked right in front of one of the tractor trailers that was parked on the railroad tracks. "I moved up as much as I could and he still was located on the tracks. He didn't have no time to move further than what he did," said Osborne.
Osborne says he knew having a truck sitting on the tracks was dangerous, and when he heard what he says sounded like two bombs, he knew exactly what happened.
"I looked back and saw the train carrying the containers with it," he said. "Oh man, it look like a metal yard or something because the containers were destroyed and it's half way down the track."
Osborne says the truck driver handbook states specifically that drivers should be aware and careful when coming up to a railroad crossings and should not just stop on the railroad tracks.
"Truck drivers aren't supposed to park on the train tracks at anytime, because you can get hit by a train, get the goods damaged. It's part of truckers handbook, do not park on the train tracks," said Osborne.
Osborne says all of this mess could have been avoided if people would just use some common sense.
No one was seriously injured in this accident. One truck driver did report minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.
Police also say the railroad crossing arms and signals were working properly and the train did sound it's horn.
Reported by: David Hall, dhall@wtoc.com
