Ten people were injured Wednesday when a tractor-trailer transporting a load of paint was struck by a commuter train in Little Falls, N.J., according to The Record.
http://www.northjersey.com/littlefalls/Train_strikes_vehicle_in_Little_Falls.html
Truck driver Jaswinder Singh was attempting to make a left turn from Main Street to Fairfield Avenue, an area with a railroad crossing, but didn’t judge it correctly. He was trying to back up his truck and try again, with guidance from crossing guard Linda Knauer, 61, when the train crashed into the 53-foot-long tractor trailer, The Record reported.
Knauer was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, and was released Thursday. Eight people who were on the NJ Transit train, including the engineer, were also injured, according to The Record, as was a firefighter who came to the scene to help passengers.
The truck was hauling cans of yellow paint, which spilled all over the crash site and train.
Singh was given a summons for careless driving and for being in a railroad crossing when its gates were down, The Record reported. Singh told authorities that he doesn’t remember the gates being down.
Several business owners and Little Falls residents told the newspaper that the turn Singh was trying to make is a very difficult one for large trucks to negotiate, and that it has been a problem for years. There was also fog Wednesday morning, which may have played a factor in the accident.
Singh maintained that there should have been signs warning trucks that the turn onto Fairfield Avenue was a tight one, or that trucks should be prohibited from making a left turn at the intersection, according to The Record.