Driver Has Close Call With Speeding Train Escapes With Broken Collarbone, Cut When His Pickup Gets Slammed

A 27-year-old Spirit Lake man was injured Friday morning when he pulled his pickup in front of an oncoming train.

David Vandenheuvel was taken to Kootenai Medical Center with a broken collar bone and cut on his left arm following the 7 a.m. accident near Ramsey and Diagonal roads, Idaho State Police Cpl. Kevin Murphy said.

Vandenheuvel was treated and released Friday, Murphy said.

Witnesses told officers Vandenheuvel’s Ford F-250 pickup slowed as he approached the Ramsey Road crossing and continued south without stopping.

The 6,000-foot-long train, traveling at about 55 mph, clipped the bed of the truck on the driver’s side before it cleared the intersection.

The collision spun the truck around and twisted its body.

“According to (Vandenheuvel’s) statement, he just was not paying attention,” Murphy said.

Stop signs and reflective railroad signs warn motorists of the crossing.

The train’s engineer told ISP officers he blew the horn before reaching the intersection.

The train was not damaged by the collision.

A 43-year-old Coeur d’Alene man was killed last year when his van stopped in front of an oncoming train at the same intersection.

That train, more than a mile long, crushed the van’s front end.