Female Motorist Injured At Dangerous, Unguarded Train Crossing
(Wilmington, Ohio – December 6, 2011)
A local woman was injured Tuesday morning about 7:05 A.M. as she attempted to drive across Indiana & Ohio Railway tracks at the dangerous, unguarded crossing of Hawley Avenue in Wilmington, OH, and had her 2003 Cadillac heavily damaged by an I&O freight train.
Michelle Barnes, who lives just a short distance from the crossing, which is protected only by standard, passive railroad crossbuck signs and lacks any form of automatic (lights, bells or gates) signals to protect motorists from oncoming trains, was taken to Clinton Memorial Hospital for treatment of her injuries.
Strangely enough, the train’s locomotive engineer, Ronald Carey of Springfield, OH, had a “passenger” in the locomotive cab with him, identified as Garry Carey, also of Springfield, OH, and thought to be his young son.
The Indiana & Ohio Railway is one of the 43 short line and regional railroads owned by Jacksonville, FL-headquartered RailAmerica.
