Chicago Woman Killed After Driver Ignores Railroad Crossing Gate

January 3, 2011 - A Chicago woman died Thursday night when the car she was riding in was hit by a train on the city's South Side. According to a report at the Chicago Tribune, the car was broadsided by an Amtrak train after the driver ignored the lowered gates and drove around them. The fatal car accident occurred shortly before 7 p.m. on Thursday evening.

Witnesses to the accident tell police that they saw a car drive around the lowered gates at the train crossing located at Eggleston Avenue and 97^th Street. The car didn't make it across the tracks before being struck by a No. 50 Amtrak train that was traveling from Chicago to New York. There were two people in the car when it was struck, including a 20-year-old passenger and a male driver. Both people were transported by ambulance to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where the passenger died around 7:30 p.m. that night. The victim has been identified as a 20-year-old woman who lived on South Perry Avenue on the South Side. The male driver has not been identified, but he suffered serious personal injuries. 

Nearly 250 passengers were on the train at the time of the accident, but no injuries were reported.