Woman, 19, Killed After Crashing Into Metra Train
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police are blaming the road conditions for an accident Wednesday evening that killed a 19-year-old Woodstock woman who drove into a Metra train.
The crossing gates worked at Lily Pond Road and the Union Pacific Northwest Line tracks, and Woodstock Police Chief Robert Lowen said that there is no evidence that victim Amanda Williams was trying to beat the train.
An eyewitness said it appeared that Williams was attempting to stop, but said it appeared that the brakes on Williams' 2003 Toyota Camry simply did not hold.
It was snowing lightly at the time, and Lowen said there was between one and two inches of snow on the pavement. IN addition, Lowen said, there is a curve just before the crossing, which is at the base of a small incline.
The accident is the first Lowen can remember at the crossing in his 10 years on the force. He said it is not a well-traveled thoroughfare. He described it as "a country lane" that some motorists use as a shortcut to nearby US 14.
Williams was alone in the car. Ten riders were on board the Metra train, which was en route from Harvard to Ogilvie Transportation Center; no one aboard the train was hurt. Service was disrupted for several hours.