NEW YORK — Federal safety investigators say they haven’t been able to determine why the driver of an SUV drove her car into a railroad crossing and into the path of an oncoming train in a wreck that killed six people outside New York City in 2015.
The National Transportation Safety Board met Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to finalize the investigation of the crash on the Metro-North Railroad.
The driver, Ellen Brody, died in the crash along with five people aboard the train.
Investigators found that warning gates and lights worked properly. Aditya Tomar, 41, of Danbury was killed in the crash.
NTSB head Robert Sumwalt hypothesized that Brody had been in traffic and wasn’t aware she was in a rail crossing.
Investigators say the design of the third rail also played a role. They said it stayed in one piece, like a spear, rather than break apart when it was ripped from the ground.
That rail pierced the train, contributing to the death toll.
The agency that runs Metro-North Railroad says it appreciates a federal safety investigation and has been working to reduce the possibility of railroad crossing accidents.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Tuesday it was working to re-engineer ground-level crossings, eliminate them where possible and enforce driving rules at crossings.
The National Transportation Safety Board has finalized its investigation, but says it hasn’t been able to determine why the driver of an SUV drove her vehicle into the path of an oncoming train.
