ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606240077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
A 46-year-old man was listed in stable condition Saturday afternoon after he drove his pickup into the path of a train.
State police Trooper H.A. Spahr said Lewis Bennett Jr. drove across railroad tracks on private property about one mile off Merrimac Road near Virginia 808. The train was headed west when it rammed the passenger's side of Bennett's truck.
The train - made up of two "pushers" or engines - slid the truck about 145 yards down the tracks after the collision, Spahr said.
The accident occurred about 1 p.m., and Bennett was rescued from his crushed truck a little after 2 p.m. and taken to Columbia Montgomery Regional Hospital, according to Spahr. The trooper said he did not know if Bennett was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
"It's not a hidden intersection," Spahr said of the site. "You can see [down the tracks] several thousand feet."
Bob Fort, spokesman for Norfolk Southern Corp., said the pushers were headed from Roanoke to Whitethorne Farm.
Spahr said Bennett lives on Merrimac Road, but whether Bennett was supposed to be driving on the property where the accident occurred was unclear Saturday afternoon.
- Staff report
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB