Investigation into NJ Transit crash into car in Elmwood Park, 2 injured

ELMWOOD PARK (WABC) -- A local couple was stuck at a railroad crossing with the gates closing behind them, and that's when a train slammed into their car.

An Eyewitness News investigation is revealing there have been more than a dozen crashes involving trains and cars at this same intersection.

When you look at the damaged car, it's amazing the two people inside survived.

They deny claims by New Jersey Transit that they drove around the safety gates.

But what we do know is this crossing is known as one of the most dangerous in the area, where trains have repeatedly collided with cars.

The crossing is located in the Bergen County Borough of Elmwood Park.

They're moving kind of slow but no wonder, Randa and Bassam Sayegh survived their car being struck by a New Jersey Transit train at a crossing in Elmwood Park which has lights, signs, and crossing gates.

"The gate didn't go down so we kept going. As soon as we got to the second gate it went down and the one behind us went down at same time," Bassam Sayegh said.

Bassam, sitting in the front passenger seat early Sunday morning, says all he remembers is the train coming straight for his door.

"Next thing I remember being 30 feet away from car, thrown to the ground, asking people if I'm alive or dead," Bassam Sayegh said.

Not only were they alive but they had few injuries. They were surprised though when New Jersey Transit hit them with a summons saying they failed to stop for the gate.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the commuter railroad said, "The train engineer observed the vehicle going around the safety gates onto the tracks as he approached the grade crossing and immediately blew the horn and applied the (train's) emergency brakes."

"Why would they say something like this, it is so obvious we got stuck in between," Bassam Sayegh said.

The crossing has a long history of accidents, with serious injuries and deaths. Eyewitness News' investigation into Federal Railroad data showed 19 accidents since 2000, one of the worst records in the nation. The details of some mirror what the Sayegh's says happened to them: A car "getting caught between the gates", a "vehicle stopped on the crossing after gates lowered."

"That's what happened to me, I went in the middle the gate from train not right, not good," Randa Sayegh said.

Two things about this crossing stand out. First, the tracks are at an angle, not straight across, and then there's an unusual distance between this gate and the one on the other side of the tracks. It's at least seven, eight, maybe even nine car lengths between them.

Officials say the crossing gates were working properly at the time of the accident.