Crime & Safety

Skokie Resident Causes Crash on Train Tracks

Thousands of commuters were delayed after a Skokie man suffering from a medical condition caused a crash in the middle of the train tracks in Park Ridge, police said on Wednesday.

A 56-year-old Skokie man lost control of his vehicle and crashed into another car in the middle of a set of train tracks in Park Ridge on Tuesday, Park Ridge police said on Wednesday. According to police, the man that allegedly caused the accident was suffering from a medical condition prior to the crash.

Thousands of commuters on the Union Pacific Northwest Line were delayed about an hour because the accident halted trains traveling in both directions. However, no trains hit either of the cars involved in the accident, and both drivers were taken to the hospital in what police described as "non-incapacitating" condition, police said. 

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The accident happened at about 3:54 p.m. when the Skokie man - whose name is currently being withheld - was driving a beige 2011 Chevrolet four-door, was driving north from Touhy Avenue on Cumberland Street, which ends at the embankment, police said. Drivers must take a left turn from that point to go westbound on Cedar Street.

A medical condition caused the man to lose control of his vehicle, police said, and it rear-ended a gray 2012 Lincoln four-door driven by a 66-year-old Arlington Heights man, which was traveling in the same direction. The Chevrolet pushed the Lincoln off the roadway while the Chevrolet kept going - up a steep dirt and grass embankment and then onto the railroad tracks. It came to rest on the center track.   

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Metra halted all trains until a public safety crew could tow the car off the track and send it back down the embankment (click here to see video).

Trains began rolling again almost exactly an hour after the accident, and Park Ridge Police Commander Lou Jogmen credited the city's police and fire departments, Metra and A-1 Towing of Niles for coordinating to speed the removal of the car from the tracks.

No further information is available at this time. Once new details become available Skokie Patch will update.

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