A tow truck operator helps remove the tractor that was involved in a collision Friday with a train in Dearborn. The tractor driver’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
By DANIEL HERATY
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – A crash Friday involving a city utility tractor and an Amtrak train left the tractor operator with serious injuries.
The crash happened about noon on the railroad tracks on Monroe between Park Street and West Village Drive. The tractor, according to initial reports, was clearing snow along the sidewalk.
“The shovel must have been stuck in between the tracks,” said Maria Lerma, 53, who lives nearby. “I’m assuming she got stuck.”
Police Chief Ronald Haddad said the train clipped the tractor and sent it back a considerable distance.
The operator, a resident of Redford Township, was sent to Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center, where she is being treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries, city officials said in a statement.
Haddad said the woman, who is a resident of Redford Township, is “well-respected” and that the crash could have been a lot worse.
“The train’s conductor tried to slow down considerably,” he said. “That action yielded the result.”
As for the tractor operator, Haddad said, “We’re all pulling for her.”
(Daniel Heraty can be reached at [email protected].)