Teens injured in railroad crossing crash
(LISA JAMES/Hagadone News Network) A Chevy Trailblazer collided with a train while trying to cross the tracks on Heutter Road near Lancaster Avenue in Rathdrum on Thursday afternoon. The two teens in the vehicle were transported to Kootenai Health, one in critical condition.
(LISA JAMES/Hagadone News Network) A Union Pacific Railroad employee crosses the tracks on Heutter Road near Lancaster Avenue in Rathdrum where a Chevy Trailblazer, seen in the background, collided with a passing train on Thursday afternoon. One of the two teens in the vehicle was extricated, and both were transported to Kootenai Health.
(LISA JAMES/Hagadone News Network) Sgt. Ward Crawford spray paints the tracks at the scene of a collision on Heutter Road near Lancaster Avenue in Rathdrum, to indicate the angle which a vehicle may have collided with a train on Thursday afternoon, as a colleague from the Kootenai County Fatal Traffic Team takes photos.
(LISA JAMES/Hagadone News Network) The front window of a Chevy Trailblazer was smashed and the side crunched in after the vehicle collided with a train on Heutter Road in Rathdrum Thursday afternoon. One of the two teens in the vehicle had to be extricated, and both were transported to Kootenai Health.
RATHDRUM — A pair of teens were seriously injured Thursday afternoon when the vehicle they were traveling in collided with a train on the Rathdrum Prairie.
Austin C. Wiseman, 18, is believed to have been driving the silver Chevy Trailblazer when it was struck while crossing the railroad tracks at north Huetter Road and Lancaster Avenue. The passenger, a 15-year-old girl, is believed to be from Coeur d’Alene.
One of the teens had to be extricated from the vehicle by emergency personnel, reported KCSO Detective Dennis Stinebaugh. The injured were transported to Kootenai Health. Stinebaugh said Wiseman was in critical condition.
The crash comes just a day after a multi-agency effort to raise awareness about railroad crossing safety and the dangers motorists face if they attempt to beat trains at crossings.
Travis Campbell, state coordinator for Idaho Operation Lifesaver, an organization that works to raise awareness about railroad crossing safety, was at the scene of Thursday’s crash, along with members of the Kootenai County fatal traffic team and employees of Union Pacific Railroad. He was visibly shaken.
“I am deeply saddened by these events. I go all around the state to educate people, and I am very passionate about doing everything we can to prevent these accidents,” Campbell said. “It’s hard for me not to be deeply affected and emotional when this happens.”