Distraction, confusion blamed for train fatality

A year ago, with some irony, a man in his 70s was being re-tested for his driver’s licence after losing it for medical reasons. At a train crossing on Gouin Boulevard he drove onto the track past the barrier, and got himself killed and the SAAQ tester injured when the St-Jérôme train went through.

A report is in on the incident, basically saying what was obvious: there were too many distractions – train signals, heavy snow falling, people gesturing outside the vehicle, the tester giving directions, all at the same time.

They don’t say how that poor SAAQ guy is doing now. The account on the radio was terse but suggested he got pretty badly mangled.