LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. – Brightline’s high-speed route between Miami and West Palm Beach continues to be deadly for drivers and pedestrians.
The privately-owned railroad company released a video hours after a camera on a high-speed train recorded a crash on Wednesday morning in Palm Beach County.
A driver was injured shortly before 6 a.m., on Railroad Avenue, in Lake Worth Beach, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The impact cut his car in two.
“This is a tragic reminder of the need to be safe around active railroad tracks,” Vanessa Alfonso, a spokeswoman for Brightline, wrote in a statement adding, “This behavior is incredibly dangerous, irresponsible and tragic.”
Alfonso also said the company “implores drivers and pedestrians to stay off train tracks.” The video, she said, shows the driver in Lake Worth Beach “deliberately” drove around the crossing gates.
There have been collisions regularly since Brightline began the Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach connection on Jan. 13, 2018, and the Miami connection on May 19, 2018.
The coronavirus pandemic prompted a suspension of service on March 25, 2020. As of Wednesday, Local 10 News had reported nine collisions since the service resumed on Nov. 8, 2021.
On Tuesday, there were two Brightline crashes in Broward County. A train struck and killed a pedestrian in Hallandale Beach and another train struck a car in Delray Beach. On Wednesday, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to the third Brightline crash in four days.
Brightline is planning to add an Orlando connection next year.
Complete raw Jan. 16 video (65 seconds)
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Local10.com archives on collisions involving Brightline
- Feb. 15: Hallandale Beach
- Feb. 15: Delray Beach
- Jan. 28: Hollywood
- Jan. 13: Miami
- Dec. 30, 2021: Aventura
- Dec. 13, 2021: Fort Lauderdale
- Dec. 7, 2021: North Miami Beach
- Nov. 9, 2021: Pompano Beach
- Nov. 8, 2021: Service reinstated
- July 21, 2021: Miami Shores
- March 25, 2020: Service suspended
- March 4, 2020: Pompano Beach
- Feb. 18, 2020: Pompano Beach
- Feb. 4, 2020: Deerfield Beach
- Jan. 4, 2020: Pompano Beach
- Nov. 15, 2019: Aventura
- Nov. 13, 2019: Deerfield Beach
- Sept. 24, 2019: Hollywood
- Sept. 12, 2019: Oakland Park
- Aug. 25, 2019: Pompano Beach
- Aug. 20, 2019: Pompano Beach
- Aug. 2, 2019: Pompano Beach
- July 29, 2019: Hollywood
- April 17, 2019: Pompano Beach
- March 13, 2019: Aventura
- March 8, 2019: Hollywood
- Dec. 27, 2018: Fort Lauderdale
- Nov. 25, 2018: Dania Beach
- Nov. 24, 2018: Hollywood
- Oct. 19, 2018: Dania Beach
- Oct. 16, 2018: Pompano Beach
- Aug. 28, 2018: Pompano Beach
- June 21, 2018: Boynton Beach
- June 1, 2018: Boynton Beach
- May 19, 2018: Brightline starts Miami connection
- Feb. 10, 2018: Fort Lauderdale
- Feb. 9, 2018: Wilton Manors
- Feb. 3, 2018: Lake Worth
- Jan. 20, 2018: Fort Lauderdale
- Jan. 17, 2018: Boynton Beach
- Jan. 13, 2018: Boynton Beach (Brightline starts Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach connection)