Surveillance video showed the woman killed in an accident with a train in Edinburgh on Monday didn’t stop before crossing the railroad tracks as a train was approaching, police said.
Business owners, members of the Indiana National Guard and police eating lunch in downtown Edinburgh ran to help after Sharon Gobin, 74, of Edinburgh, drove in front of a train about 12:30 p.m.
Investigators have reviewed surveillance cameras from a downtown business and the train that was involved in the crash at the Louisville & Indiana Railroad crossing on East Main Cross Street, Edinburgh Police Chief David Mann said.
Those videos showed that the flashing warning lights were working at the time of the crash, though the force of the impact pushed Gobin’s vehicle into a service box, and caused them to stop working after the accident, Mann said.
The video from the train also showed Gobin driving slowly across the tracks, but not stopping before crossing, Mann said. The railroad crossing is marked with signs and warning signals that flash lights and make sounds when a train is approaching, but does not have arms that come down and block traffic from crossing, Mann said.
Investigators are continuing to piece together information about the accident, including using measurements and drone images to reconstruct the moments leading up to the crash, Mann said.
Mann was one of several people who ran to help after the crash on Monday, he said.
He was eating lunch with other members of the police department at a nearby restaurant and heard the accident happen. Business owners and members of the Indiana National Guard in the area also rushed to help get Gobin out of the vehicle, he said.
Gobin was trapped inside her badly damaged vehicle after the crash and emergency workers had to pry the door off to get her out. Gobin was taken to the hospital and later died from her injuries. An autopsy was set to be done Tuesday, but results were not available by the afternoon.
The crash happened on railroad tracks that were recently upgraded to allow more trains that are heavier and traveling faster. Officials from the Louisville & Indiana Railroad Co. were not available Monday or Tuesday to answer questions about the accident.
