Authorities say an SUV driven by an elderly woman was hit by a train at a crossing in Long Island, about 40 miles south of a fatal crash last month in Westchester County that killed six.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority police say a crossing gate came down on the SUV early Monday afternoon in East Rockaway. A witness says the woman then drove onto the grade crossing while warning lights were flashing and bells were ringing. The Long Island Rail Road train had just left a station and hit the back of the SUV, pushing it off the tracks. The SUV driver was hospitalized with neck and back injuries. Also early Monday afternoon, two New York congressional representatives were standing near a rail crossing in Chappaqua, not far from the site of last month’s fatal Metro-North commuter train collision with an SUV in Valhalla. They were urging passage of a passenger rail bill that includes rail crossing safety provisions.
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