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A car collided with an Expo test train in Santa Monica just before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
The "train vs. car collision," as the Santa Monica Fire Department referred to it, occurred at the intersection of Lincoln and Colorado boulevards. The train remained on the tracks, and there were no injuries to the conductor or the occupants of the vehicle, according to the Santa Monica Fire Department.
This is the second train-involved crash to occur on the Expo Phase 2 tracks; the firstinvolved an 18-wheel truck making an illegal left turn in December 2015. Metro's much-anticipated new 6.6-mile light-rail extension is set to open on May 20.
Jose Ubaldo of Metro tells LAist that Expo system is currently running as if service was already open, albeit sans passengers. Trains run roughly every ten to twelve minutes.
So how should drivers stay safe while sharing streets with our newest light rail line? Ubaldo gave us a few tips.
"The first thing that we tell everybody is to look, listen and stay alive," he said. So what does that mean? Well, most of it is common sense:
"Please be careful," Ubaldo said. "Look around and listen to the surroundings for trains coming. It's very important to look both ways and to be patient—the train is very fast and very quiet. It's not like the old trains, where you would hear them coming and think 'Okay, I can cross because it's going take take a while.'"
"Just be alert. It's something that [drivers and residents] will have to learn because we are the new kids on the block. We just want to be respectful and also have everyone be respectful of us and their safety."
And, as our friends at Santa Monica Next wrote, "Remember, it is a lot easier for you to get out of the way of a train than it is for a train to get out of your way."
