Gilroy Man Crossing Tracks Killed When His Truck Collides With Railroad Spiker Vehicle
GILROY (CBS SF) -- A Gilroy man was killed Friday when a railroad maintenance vehicle crashed into his truck in the unincorporated area of San Martin in Santa Clara County, pinning him inside his toppled vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Shortly before 1 p.m., a 57-year-old New Mexico man was driving the railroad vehicle, a 2013 Spiker Lager, south on the railroad tracks that run parallel to the east side Monterey Highway, CHP Officer Herb Kellogg said.
The 54-year-old Gilroy man was driving his 2008 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck west on Masten Avenue approaching Monterey Highway when he went into the left turn lane past the upright railroad crossing arms and started crossing the railroad tracks, Kellogg said.
The railroad vehicle then crashed into the passenger side of the Toyota, causing the pickup to overturn onto the driver's side, he said.
The Spiker Lager vehicle continued to push the pickup southbound on the tracks until both vehicles came to a stop on the south side of Masten Avenue, about half of a mile west of U.S. Highway 101, he said.
The driver of the Toyota remained trapped inside the overturned pickup until emergency personnel extracted him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The CHP is investigating the fatal crash but driving under the influence is not suspected, Kellogg said.
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