A 22-year-old driver was seriously injured in a crash with a train in Anderson County on Saturday, authorities said.
The driver has been identified as Benjamin Sharp. After the crash, he was taken by an Anderson County EMS ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with what were reported to be life-threatening injuries. Information on his current condition wasn’t immediately available Monday afternoon.
The crash was reported at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday on Patterson Lane off Old Lake City Highway.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Sharp was trying to cross the railroad tracks to a home off Old Lake City Highway when the 2009 Jeep Commander he was driving was hit by the train.
The train (110 cars/empty, according to the report) applied its emergency brake and stopped, and it was separated so emergency responders could help Sharp, the THP said.
Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy, said the train crew separated the rail cars so first responders could get to the crash site.
Several railroad crossings in that area, including both county roads and private driveways, were blocked for about four hours during the crash investigation, Lucas said.
The railroad crossing is a one-lane road or private drive that leads to a few homes, and the crossing does not have lights and it is not equipped with reflective signs and yield signs, the THP said.
The crash was investigated by THP Trooper Aaron McGhee.
Besides the THP, Sheriff’s Department, and Anderson County EMS, Anderson County Rescue Squad and the Medford Fire Department also responded to the crash.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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