Woman fined as car trapped on rail tracks during crossing attempt, forcing train to make emergency stop

The woman drove her five-seat car across the North–South railway line in Thien Nhan Commune of Nghe An Province at around 2 p.m. on Dec. 5. when the car's front-left wheel slipped off the rail, leaving the vehicle immobilized in the center of the tracks.

A local resident quickly moved in front of the car and repeatedly signaled to warn the approaching train. Train driver Do Trung Kien immediately applied the emergency brake.

The train, which was pulling 24 freight cars with a total weight of nearly 850 tons and traveling at high speed, stopped about 100 meters from the car.

 

 

Woman fined as car trapped on rail tracks during crossing attempt, forcing train to make emergency stop

Bị phạt 5 triệu đồng vì để ôtô mắc kẹt trên đường sắt

Locals then rushed to the tracks to help move the car out of the way and the freight train resumed its journey after one minute.

Nghe An Police Department announced penalties for the car driver on Monday.

In addition to the administrative fine, she was also punished with a two-point deduction from her driver’s license. In Vietnam, drivers start with 12 points on their license, and losing all 12 points leads to a driving ban, requiring a mandatory six-month wait and passing a traffic safety knowledge test to get the license back.

A woman (C) writes a report at a police station in Nghe An Province after trying to driver her car past an illegal railway crossing. Photo by Thanh Luan

Nghe An Province has 171 road–railway intersections, including 73 official level crossings and 98 unofficial crossings. In the first seven months of the year alone, the province recorded seven railway traffic accidents, resulting in two deaths and six injuries.