Track terror: No warning before NJ Transit train hits car, witnesses say

🚂 A car at a Monmouth County railroad crossing was hit by a train

🚂 The warning system failed, witnesses told police

🚂 NJ Transit is investigating whether the warning systems worked

ABERDEEN — A New Jersey driver is lucky to be alive after his car was hit at a railroad crossing in Monmouth County.

The 65-year-old man from Old Bridge was driving in Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon, Aberdeen police Chief Matthew Lloyd said.

Around 12:57 p.m., the man drove his Honda CR-V through the open railroad crossing along Cliffwood Avenue.

As the SUV went through the crossing, it was struck by an NJ Transit Track Maintenance Vehicle, Lloyd said. The maintenance vehicle operates on the tracks and is used to work on overhead wires, NJ Transit spokesman Kyalo Mulumba said.

Multiple witnesses told police that the warning signs at the crossing never turned on and the gate didn't come down, Lloyd said.

Whether the warning system failed has not been confirmed by NJ Transit and is under investigation, Mulumba said.

The driver of the Honda escaped with only minor injuries. He was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center. His car was towed.

NJ Transit police are leading the investigation into the collision.

The crash did not impact rail service, which was already suspended in the area for the weekend due to work near the new Raritan River drawbridge, Mulumba said.

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