Watch Near Miss As Driver Speeds To Beat Train in Leeds, ME

A truck towing a trailer nearly collided with a Pan Am Railways freight train in North Leeds when the driver decided to try to beat it to the crossing. The near miss was captured at a crossing near the junction of Routes 219 and 106 in North Leeds by AMP Productions, a rail fan YouTube channel that features videos of trains around Maine.

When a train approaches a railroad crossing, by law, the engineer must sound the locomotive's horn in a pattern of 2 long, 1 short and 1 final long blast that is sounded until it is in the crossing. In the video, the engineer is sounding the final blast as the truck zooms past it, with what looks like just a few feet between the two.

The signal lights were flashing and you couldn't miss the horn, so it's extremely unlikely this driver wasn't aware there was a train coming. If he was a mere second later, he definitely would have known as the front coupler of the locomotive would have been sent right into the side of his truck.

The train was moving slow, but even at that low speed, a lot of damage and injury could have occurred. If you see red lights flashing at a railroad crossing, do not attempt to beat the train. This guy got very lucky, but you may not. Getting to wherever you are going safely is much more important than saving time.