For the second time in a month, an MTA train has hit an SUV at a road crossing.
This time, it happened on Long Island and no one was killed.
An eyewitness told MTA investigators that the elderly woman driving the Toyota Highlander attempted to cross the Long Island Railroad tracks in East Rockaway, after warning lights began flashing and bells began ringing. The gates came down, stopping the SUV — and its back was hit by an west-bound train. The driver complained of neck and back injuries and was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside.
No one was reported injured on the train, and service resumed 90 minutes after the midday crash.
Last month, six people were killed when a Metro North train crashed into an SUV at a road crossing in the Westchester County town of Valhalla.
Federal officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating that incident.
On Monday, the Federal Railroad Administration announced the launch of a new public awareness campaign about grade crossings, in part because of the Valhalla crash.
In 2014, 239 people were killed and 763 people were injured in grade crossing incidents.