Cops: Car hit by train after driver follows GPS device

For the second time this year, a car was hit by a train on the Metro-North tracks in Bedford Hills after a driver followed the directions of a GPS device, police say. No one in the car or on the train

News 12 Staff

Sep 30, 2008, 11:26 PM

Updated 5,861 days ago

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For the second time this year, a car was hit by a train on the Metro-North tracks in Bedford Hills after a driver followed the directions of a GPS device, police say.
No one in the car or on the train was injured in the incident, which occurred Monday at around 7:30 p.m.
Officials say the driver, 43-year-old Jose Silva, of White Plains, was following his GPS on his way to a Go Cart race track in Bedford Hills. The device told him to turn onto the tracks at the Green Lane crossing, and before police could respond, officials say a northbound train slammed into the car at about 60 miles per hour.
Metro-North issued Silva three tickets for allegedly causing the accident.
Police say this is the second time a GPS device lead a driver onto the tracks. The first incident was in January. As a result of that accident, the tracks were shut down for hours.
GPS owners who are familiar with this crossing were shocked to hear about the accident.
?I don?t understand, I have a GPS in my car,? says Brandon Durham, of Elmsford. ?It tells you where to turn, it tells you a turn is coming up, but you have to use some common sense.?
Although the state Department of Transportation had spent about $250,000 on safety improvements at the Green Lane crossing, the number of accidents continues to climb.