Woman climbs out of vehicle minutes before train collision near HR; It's not as bad as it sounds
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Jan. 22, 2024 — A 19-year-old woman walked away after busting through a guardrail in her Nissan Murano on Interstate 84 near Hood River and her car came to a stop on the railroad tracks on Sunday, Jan. 21 at around 9:30 p.m.
The vehicle was hit… er nudged… by a train shortly thereafter near milepost 59.
Google Map of area where crash occurred near milepost 59 on Interstate 84.
Damage was held to a minimum as the train was slowed and neither the vehicle nor the train received much damage from the collision, according to police.
Irwin had crawled out the window of the wrecked car minutes before the collision.
“It sounded like a big deal and fortunately it wasn't,” said Oregon State Police Seargent Mark Jubitz.
Kyah Irwin, 19 of Beavercreek, Ore., was traveling westbound on the Interstate when her car hydroplaned and she struck the median, according to Jubitz.
The Nissan then bounced to the guardrail, broke through, and came to an uncontrolled rest on the railroad tracks.
Irwin then was able to self-extricate before the vehicle was struck by a train, Jubitz wrote in the OSP log.
When Jubitz arrived on scene, he said Irwin, had already been transported to the hospital for minor injuries.
Oregon Department of Transportations staff were already on site when Jubitz arrived on the scene.
Jubitz said he could see a westbound train traveling at about 35 mph toward the Nissan, and ODOT employees began waiving flares to alert the train to the vehicle.
The train Engineer initiated an emergency stop and the train slowed down to the point where it just bumped the rear end of the Nissan, moving it off the tracks.
“There was minor damage to the train and the car from the impact,” Jubitz said.
“When you hear of a car hit by a train, you imagine the worst… It was not like the movies where the car was blown apart. There was barely any damage because of the minor collision with the train.
“ODOT did a great job of getting the train to slow down,” he added. “The conductor and engineer were paying attention and doing their job, seeing the ODOT workers and they shut it down (the train) as quickly as they could.”
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