82-Year-Old Woman Survives After Train Drags Her Car Nearly Half a Mile

Police say the New Jersey driver thought she stopped before the railroad crossing — but her car was directly on the tracks when a freight train came barreling through.

An 82-year-old New Jersey woman is lucky to be alive after her car was struck and pushed nearly 500 yards by a freight train — and she somehow walked away with only minor injuries.

The shocking Thanksgiving Eve accident happened around 3 p.m. in South Brunswick when the woman, driving on Route 535 near Stults Road, stopped for flashing railroad warning lights. According to police, she believed she had stopped safely before the tracks — but her gray sedan was sitting right on top of them.

Moments later, a Conrail freight train slammed into the vehicle, pushing it down the line for about a quarter of a mile before it was able to stop. Photos shared by South Brunswick Police show the terrifying scene: the car wedged sideways across the tracks as the train bore down.

Miraculously, the driver escaped with just a minor leg injury and was taken to a local hospital. Authorities shut down Route 535 for two hours while crews cleared the wreckage.

“This could have been much worse,” police said in a statement. “The woman is extremely fortunate to be alive.”

The near-tragic crash came only an hour before another deadly collision nearby. In that separate incident, a 61-year-old woman was killed in a three-car pileup on New Road. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating both crashes.

A truly Thanksgiving miracle — and a chilling reminder of just how fast things can go wrong at railroad crossings.

(Source: The Independent)