Skip to content

VIDEO: Car racing past lowered train arms caught on camera

‘Shocking, frightening, dangerous and illegal’: video shows car crossing tracks seconds before train

CN Rail is reminding drivers not to try and beat the train after a video of a vehicle zipping through a train crossing in Chilliwack while the flashing arms were down was shared on social media.

The dashcam footage was posted by Mike Ervin on the Living in Chilliwack Facebook group on Thursday, Nov. 4.

The video shows the flashing train arms lowering on a dark and rainy morning around 5:20 a.m. on Nov. 4 at Eagle Landing Parkway in Chilliwack.

As Ervin slows down, a vehicle passes him on the left and races through the gap in the train gates, not slowing down.

“The train was maybe three seconds after,” Ervin wrote.

“After watching the the footage, it was shocking, frightening, dangerous and illegal,” said Const. Kristina Shamper with CN Police.

More importantly, had there been a collision, it would have been “very life changing” for the vehicle occupant, train crew and other witnesses, she added.

RELATED: 1 person dead following train collision in Chilliwack

Folks on social media commented on the video, calling the driver “stupid” and “an idiot.”

Others mentioned that the incident is not uncommon.

One person said she sees people who do this “every day” in Chilliwack, while another said they’ve witnessed it “lots” in Agassiz.

“It happens more of then than it should,” Shamper said.

The fine for crossing the tracks when the train gates are down would result in a $109 fine under the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act and a fine under the federal Railway Safety Act of more than $500. As far as trespassing on the tracks, Transport Canada recently increased the fine from $115 to $500.

In 2017, more than 222 accidents occurred in Canada on CN Rail tracks, resulting in 72 fatalities and 44 serious injuries.

If anyone knows who the driver of the vehicle is in this video, they are asked to call CN Rail at 1-800-465-9239.

RELATED: Rail Safety Week: Goal to prevent injuries and fatalities along railroads, says Chilliwack RCMP


 

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on?
Email: jenna.hauck@theprogress.com
Twitter: @PhotoJennalism

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Jenna Hauck

About the Author: Jenna Hauck

I started my career at The Chilliwack Progress in 2000 as a photojournalist.
Read more