Video shows Amtrak train plowing into car left on New Jersey train tracks
Wild video shows the moment an Amtrak train plowed into an unoccupied car left on the train tracks in New Jersey by an alleged drunken driver early Wednesday.
Miraculously, no one was injured in the smash-up, which was captured on police dashcam footage.
Minutes before midnight, officers from the West Windsor Police Department responded to a call of a disabled vehicle on the train tracks near the Princeton Junction train station.
Officers found a 2012 Toyota Camry — driven there by 23-year-old Amna Ahmed of Saddle Brook, NJ — on the westbound track.
Police spoke to Ahmed and nearby they found a white BMW, occupied by Ahmed’s father and sister, who showed up to aid Ahmed, according to authorities.
“Dispatch began to make notifications to stop all train traffic due to the Toyota Camry being on a track and the persons in such close proximity to the train tracks,” West Windsor police said.
Moments later, Philadelphia-bound Amtrak train No. 639 approached “at a high rate of speed” and an officer on scene alerted everyone around of the oncoming impact.
Officers and Ahmed took cover behind a building along the tracks and Ahmed’s sister and father remained in the car.
The train slammed into the Toyota, sending heavy debris flying toward the area where the officers had just been standing.
The crash “destroyed” the Toyota and damaged several other cars, cops said.
“Although the debris field was extensive and sent with such incredible force, no one was struck & there were no reported injuries due to the quick actions of our officer,” police said.
Cops determined that Ahmed was intoxicated at the scene and she was taken to police headquarters, where she was issued summonses for reckless driving and DWI.
She was released pending a future appearance at West Windsor Municipal Court.
West Windsor Police Chief Robert Garofalo posted on the department’s Facebook page that he released the dashcam video “so others can see the seriousness of this incident and the potential loss of life.”