I did not see this posted yet....very sad story indeed ........

Driver's 9 year-old-step-daughter died when....

"2005 Mazda RX-8 collided with a northbound freight train when he may have tried to go around crossing gates at Hidden Valley Boulevard where train tracks run parallel to Dixie Highway, police said. The Florida East Coast Railway crossing gates were down and the flashing lights were on, witnesses told police. The train collided with the car's rear driver's side."






full story ....

9-year-old Boca girl dies after being injured in train wreck

By Leon Fooksman
Staff Writer
Posted May 19 2005


The 9-year-old girl who was injured when her stepfather's car collided with a train Tuesday in Boca Raton has died, police said.

Traffic homicide investigators will now decide whether to charge Scott Wynkoop, 40, of Boca Raton, for the death of Samantha Rosales, of Boca Raton.

Wynkoop's 2005 Mazda RX-8 collided with a northbound freight train when he may have tried to go around crossing gates at Hidden Valley Boulevard where train tracks run parallel to Dixie Highway, police said. The Florida East Coast Railway crossing gates were down and the flashing lights were on, witnesses told police. The train collided with the car's rear driver's side.

The decision on whether Wynkoop is criminally negligent will depend on factors leading up to the crash. Investigators will have to determine whether the railroad gates and lights were operating properly and whether Wynkoop violated multiple driving laws, said Michael Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

FEC officials have already determined that the intersection's crossing gates and lights didn't malfunction, Boca Raton Police Officer Chris Somers said.

The investigation is expected to be wrapped up within weeks, Somers said.

Wynkoop and Rosales were heading home from the grocery store when the crash occurred shortly before 5 p.m., said Kenneth Lipman, a lawyer for Wynkoop's wife, Maria, and a family spokesman. The family will not comment on what led up to the crash until it completes its own reconstruction of the incident, Lipman said.

"This is an unspeakable tragedy for them," Lipman said. "Both are absolutely devastated."

Rosales was the couple's only child, he said. She died shortly after the crash at Delray Medical Center, where Wynkoop was treated and released.

 

And no it isn't the curse of the Sunlight silver... ack! Terrible news!

 

Why do people do that - is it the the thrill of beating a train or what?

 

Sad, but shows that there are dumb asses that even drive the 8. Feel sorry for the mom. Wonder if the guy was just stupid or drunk.

 

...its Titanium...

 

sad news, but on another not the car looked to stand up to the impack very well

 

That's sooo sad!

 

um why would somebody do that with a child or anybody in the car with them. if you wanna drive stupid there should only be one person in the car yourself

 

wonder if the guy is on the forum...let the googling begin!

well he doesn't have clear corners so it is unlikely

 

yea, that was posted in the lounge last week...i think the day after it happend...It's still very sad though stupid people like that give men a bad name..



no, i take that back...all men give each other a bad name :p

 

Ouch!

 

he's driving an automatic... u can tell by his rims...
makes you wonder if he could've avoided that if he had a 6spd. (jk) it's terrible news...

but -- automatic = bad news.

 

when i got my car... the dealer told me that when you buy the 6spd, it automatically upgrades to the manual sport package -- for 27k sticker price, and the 18in wheels are standard for all 6spd...

are you sure the 6spd comes w/ the 16in rims?? i could be mistaken -- the saleswoman had no idea what she was talking about most of the time...

 

www.mazdausa.com

 

I have the Base RX8 and i have the 18inchers....w00t..hagop..you're wrong hunny love!

 

They sure are huge, not to mention loud, but their size gives the impression that they are traveling at a slower speed...they are anything but slow at cruising speed.

 

I did search for train/florida and rx8/train but found nothing!!!!
How could i have missed a lounge post?

 

i was riding the train once and there was a long delay and they said it was because a train ahead of us hit a car. the driver died. so anyways after an hour delay we went thru that area and the conductor said "look outside your window folks. this is why you DO NOT try to outrun a train."

they removed the body but the car was still there. between the dash and the drivers seat there was like maybe a foot if even that of space. :-/ he was trying to slip past a commuter train. it's really dumb when people try to outrun commuter rails; they take all of 40 seconds to pass. freight trains i can see why people want to slip through (this was a freight train). those suckers can take like 20 minutes to pass. but still if you're talking about having your kid in the car... don't be stupid.

 

if he had a 6spd it probably wouldn't have mattered.

 

I hope they press charges on the guy. Hearing something like that steams me up. It's one thing to do something so stupid when you're alone, but when you have a child there with you and you put their life/future at risk. Heh. I need to stop thinking about it. I'll just rant forever on it. If that was my kid I would end up in prison for what I would do to that guy.

 

Even if it takes 20min for a train to pass (yeah, I've waited on those), it's gonna be a hell of a lot longer than that for you to finish your physical therapy after you're smashed by one.

It doesn't matter if you're alone or not. You know they have special counseling/support groups for train conductors who have hit cars and killed people? The guilt of not being able to do anything to avoid killing someone destroys these people's lives.

Ah, well. I'm with you, Photic. I could go on forever...

 

I'm with you on this one. whether alone or not, it's not worth it. People think that they can outrun trains all the time. If you're wrong, you're dead... not worth it at all...

 

just to clarify, i'm not saying i advocate it in any way. i can see why people get impatient though and why they would try.

it's stupid; it's just even stupider when people pull that on commuter trains which take about 10 seconds to zip past the crossing (about a minute total when you count the raising and lower of the gates).

 

Id love to see you beat that train crossing under the same circumstances...

morons = bad news

 

for those taking me seriously -- i'm joking. i'm trying to make light of the situation. and yes, morons=bad news.