One Indiana Motorist Killed, Another Injured in Two Separate Collisions at Nearby Dangerous, Unguarded Crossings by the Same CSX Freight Train
(Brownsburg, Indiana – December 2 & 3, 2019)
The pair of collisions occurred at the dangerous and unguarded CSX crossings of the 6900 block of County Road 900 East near Brownsburg, Indiana early this week. On Monday night, December 2, 2019 at 11:47 PM, EST, a CSX train struck a 2017 Jeep, resulting in serious injuries to the as-yet-unidentified driver. According to railroad submitted records, the CSX freight train is the only train that uses the rural crossings at a maximum allowable speed of 25 mph.
While Sheriff’s Deputies were clearing the first train crash, a call came in at 12:24 AM, EST Tuesday morning that a collision occurred with the stopped freight train and a 2008 Lincoln SUV at the crossing of CSX tracks and CR 700 North.
In the darkness, the driver of the Lincoln had been unable to see the stopped train blocking the unguarded crossing. The victim and driver of the SUV was identified by authorities as Dennis Swanson, 43, of Brownsburg, and was pronounced deceased at the scene. It is unclear if the dark rail cars that were straddling the non-signalized crossing were equipped with the federally-mandated reflectorization stripping.
