OAKLAND PARK, Fla — One person was killed when a high-speed commuter train struck their car in South Florida, officials said.
Deputies responded Tuesday afternoon to an Oakland Park train crossing in the area of Northeast 62nd Street and Dixie Highway following reports that a Brightline train had hit a vehicle, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office news release. One person was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials didn't immediately identify the victim or say why their vehicle was on the track.
The crash comes a day after Broward County officials began a two-week enforcement operation to make drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists obey traffic laws at railroad crossings.
Brightline trains have fatally struck more than 60 people since it began operations in 2017, an average of about one every 32,000 miles, an ongoing analysis of Federal Railroad Administration data by The Associated Press shows. That is the worst per-mile rate in the country. The coronavirus pandemic shut down Brightline service in March 2020 before it began operating again in November 2021.
The next worst for a railroad that travels at least 100,000 miles per year is Northern California’s Altamont Corridor Express, which has one death for every 104,000 miles its trains travel.
Investigators say none of the Brightline deaths have been the fault of the railroad or its crews. The deaths have been mostly suicides, drivers maneuvering around crossing gates or pedestrians trying to beat the train.
The high-speed sky rail urges motorists and pedestrians to adhere to all safety rules and regulations and use caution when approaching railroad crossings.
10 Tampa Bay's Jordan Highsmith contributed to this story.
