Pompano Beach, Fla. ( Associated Press) – A scooter driver was killed when she went around lower crossing gates and collided with a passing Brightline train, the latest in a long string of deaths linked to high-speed passenger service, officials said on Monday .
The Broward Sheriff’s Office said the woman was riding a scooter in Pompano Beach at around 11:20 a.m. Saturday when she turned left, went around the crossing gate and collided with the side of the train. She was pronounced dead at the scene. His name and age were not released.
According to an Associated Press analysis that began in 2019, the woman was the 63rd person to die in a Brightline train collision since it began operations in mid-2017, giving it the worst per-mile fatality rate in the nation. ,
Brightline averages about one death for every 33,000 miles (53,100 km) traveled by trains. Among railroads traveling at least 100,000 miles (161,000 km) per year, the next worst rate is one death per 101,000 miles (161,000 km).
Investigators have found that none of the earlier deaths were the fault of the railroad, determining that many were suicides or drivers or pedestrians trying to thrash the trains. Trains travel at 79 mph (127 kph) through densely populated urban and suburban areas with approximately 70 miles (112 km) of track between Miami and West Palm Beach that runs along the Brightline Florida East Coast Freight Line. shares with.
Brightline has stepped up its efforts to curb the deaths, including installing cameras to alert them if someone is lurking near the tracks and adding fences and landscaping to make access to the tracks more difficult. Used to be.
Brightline is completing a line that will connect West Palm Beach and Orlando at speeds of up to 120 mph (193 kph). It plans to eventually connect Orlando to Tampa. It is also building a line that will connect Southern California and Las Vegas.
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