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Car collides with train

Nov 28, 2010 | 11:48 AM

It was a scary situation for a Prince Albert man.

Just before 12:30 Sunday afternoon, Michael Hoey’s car was hit by a train.

The man was driving down First Avenue West. He said, he only noticed the train when he hit the bottom of the hill, at 16th Street, near OK Tire.

“I had music playing, so I couldn’t hear the chiming, and it’s mid-afternoon so I couldn’t really see the flashing lights, just from the lights themselves. So yeah, I had no idea the train was even coming, like it didn’t blow its whistle or anything like that,” he said.

He said, he tried to swerve into the OK Tire sign, but it didn’t work. As he was trying to swerve the other way, he was struck by the train.

Const. Shawn Rowden, with the Prince Albert Police Service, said the train had already crossed into the intersection when the two vehicles collided.

“I have to avoid this train somehow, so I just tried turning away from it,” said Hoey, explaining it was the only thing he could thing of doing when he saw the train coming.

While it was a scary incident for Hoey, he said he is a little relieved.

“I am just glad I wasn’t run over by a train,” he said.

Rowden said, this kind of thing does not happen very often, calling it “one of those rare occasions.”

He did say, when it does happen, it’s not often the person involved can walk away unscathed.

“If someone can walk away from this and with no injuries, it’s a good day,” he said.

While Hoey might have walked away with no injuries, he is walking away with ticket for driving too fast for road conditions.

klavoie@panow.com