SUFFOLK, Va. — Two people are in the hospital following an accident involving a car and a train on Saturday morning.
According to Suffolk Fire & Rescue, the accident was reported at 9:41 a.m. in the 1300 block of Portsmouth Boulevard.
Two people in the vehicle, an adult man and a boy, were seriously hurt in the crash. The boy was airlifted by Nightingale to a local hospital with critical injuries, while the man was taken by ambulance to the hospital with serious injuries. Timothy Kelley, a spokesperson for the city of Suffolk, said the man and the boy are in stable condition.
The driver was charged with reckless driving on private property.
Kelley said drivers need to pay attention to the signals and warning signs when they approach a railroad crossing.
"Remember that the train has the right-of-way," said Kelley.
"It can take upwards of a mile or more for a train to stop when it’s in motion," said Kelley.
Suffolk resident Makala Cogdell is worried about the increase of these types of accidents happening in her city.
"I’m mostly concerned maybe the train drivers that are actually driving the train, but then I’m also concerned about the drivers that actually use our railroad tracks," said Cogdell.
This is the latest accident involving a vehicle and a train in recent weeks in Suffolk.
A man was seriously hurt in a crash on the night of December 5 at the intersection of North Capital Street and Railroad Avenue, and another man was seriously hurt in a crash on November 30 at a railroad crossing on Liberty Street.
Kelley said the driver of the car is usually at fault during car accidents involving trains.
"It's my understanding that they all involve incidents where the vehicle drove around the crossing gates that were down at the time the train was crossing the track," said Kelley.
The crash remains under investigation.