Two people have died this week from accidents with Brightline trains, and now the passenger rail has requested federal money to make improvements that intend to improve safety. NBC 6’s Julie Leonardi reports
A day after a driver was killed in a collision with a Brightline train in Pompano Beach, another driver was killed after a collision involving a Jeep and a train in Hollywood Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday's incident happened in the area of N. Dixie Highway and Garfield Street.
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Footage showed the white Jeep badly damaged in the grass next to the train tracks, with the front of the Brightline train also damaged.
Police said the driver was hospitalized in critical condition but later died from his injuries. The driver's identity wasn't released.
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Images from a nearby business showed the moment of impact and a plume of smoke in the air a short time later.
Jacob Naber, who runs an autobody shop across the street, said he watches cars go around the railroad crossing arms all the time.
"He was coming down with the train so he can see the train next to him but when he got here he didn’t see a barrier on the left hand side so I thought maybe he could get away with it with a zig zag through," Naber said. "Some people try to take chances."
Local
On Monday, a 27-year-old father of four was killed when his truck was struck by a Brightline train in Pompano Beach.
Officials said the man had driven around the safety gates.
Since 2018 when Brightline opened, there have been nearly 60 deaths in South Florida involving the high-speed train.
According to a report from the SunSentinel, Brightline is requesting a federal grant to pay for around half of a $45 million project to boost safety measures at nearly 330 crossings and add miles of protection along the railway for pedestrians
Some of those changes include marking X’s near rail crossings so drivers can see it’s a danger zone, adding reflective posts, fencing throughout the corridor in busy areas, and more warning signage.
