A driver and her daughter were unharmed Sunday, March 31, after they abandoned the car they were in moments before it was hit by a train.
Laterica Finley was driving her silver Chrysler Sebring eastbound on East 12th Street in South Rome when the car stalled on the tracks just before Cedar Avenue.
Finley said she was going over the tracks when the car's front axle broke. Finley said it was about a minute later that a Norfolk Southern engine heading south came through the crossing and rammed the passenger side of her car.
Luckily, she had gotten her 4-year-old daughter out of the back of the car and moved a safe distance away before the train got to the car.
Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Terpay said company officials were called to the scene to inspect the train and the tracks before allowing the engine to start moving again.
East 12th Street was closed for some time before a crew arrived to clear it.
Terpay said the actions that Finley took once she realized her car would not move are exactly what people should do if they ever find themselves in a similar situation.







