Video Shows Train Ramming Truck

A spectacular collision at an Oxnard, Calif., railroad crossing earlier this week happened to be

The Amtrak train smashed right through the trailer of a truck at a crossing protected by a gate and flashing lights.

Stacey Butler of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles observes that one camera angle shows the driver of the truck pulling onto the tracks. The light turns green, but the crossing arms are down and lights are flashing. Then, seconds later, as the light turns red, the driver stops. That's when the train rams the trailer.

From across the street, another camera angle showed the truck stopped on the tracks, and then the collision.

"Miraculously, you only have six very minor injuries aboard the train, and the actual truck driver was not injured at all," says Oxnard Police Commander Tom Chronister. "When you see it, it's amazing that no one was seriously injured or killed."

There were 80 passengers on the train.

Butler reports that the man who shot the video says he was videotaping the intersection with two cameras because he was involved in a car accident there several weeks ago. He was trying to show that the light changes too quickly to get safely through the intersection.

"The video actually gives us an opportunity to look at the traffic signal phasing," Chronister adds. "So that gives us more information to see if there was sufficient time for the tractor-trailer rig to get across the intersection."

So far, no charges have been filed.