Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1993, December 5 - Near hit at Merivale Road, CNR, Smiths Falls sub.

Ottawa Citizen 9 December 1993 Near miss Saturday, 12:30 p.m. at the : level crossing on Merivale ' Road at MacFarlane Road: A VIA train approaching the crossing sets off warning cle- ; vices and the lights start to flash. Trains are highballing at that crossing. Some cars ignore the flashing lights and skip across before the barriers drop. One car hesitates. At the tracks the driver decides to stop and back up. But the car behind him has him blocked and the barrier conies down on the lead car's roof. The train is bearing down and it's likely it will clip the car. Passengers on the OC Transpo bus waiting for the crossing to clear were impressed by the actions of driver Gaston Laroque. He ran from the bus to the crossing, used his shoulder to lift the barrier and his hands to direct other drivers to back up. According to watchers, it was a near miss.

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Updated 21 April 2019