Train Smashes SUV In Utah After Driver Makes A Run For It

A newly released viral video shows a February 4 incident in Layton, Utah where a passenger train collided with an unoccupied SUV. The driver can be seen in the video exiting the vehicle and heading for cover with the Utah FrontRunner passenger train barreling down the tracks. 

"In the heat of the moment, the panic of the moment, they jumped out of the car and, and then the train hit the car," Gavin Gustafson, senior public information officer for Utah Transit Authority, told KSLTV. "I’m certainly not going to second-guess them in the heat of the moment," he said. "And sometimes, the view might be blocked by something else, you don’t want to pull forward if there is another train coming."

What could the driver have done differently? The Utah train official wants drivers to remember they can break the gate arms if they're in danger. "[The gates are] far less important than you or your car," he said. "It’s a whole lot better than what ended up happening."