A police officer in Norwalk, Connecticut, is being hailed as a hero after he helped avoid a Metro-North train crash Tuesday.
The Norwalk Police Department says Officer Neil Robertson had just finished investigating a motor vehicle accident on Cross Street when he observed train gates lowering. At the time, traffic on Route 1 throughout the city was bumper to bumper due to I-95 south being shut down.
While stopped at the traffic light, Robertson noticed an SUV was stopped within the area of the closing gates. Knowing there was a train approaching, he quickly raced to the SUV, which was gridlocked in traffic.
There was not enough time to back the vehicle up, as Robertson could see the train's headlamp coming from the Wall Street tunnel.
He quickly contacted the vehicles that were in line and managed to make them move ahead, allowing the aforementioned SUV to pull forward seconds prior to the train striking it.
"When I looked down the tracks, and I saw that train, it felt huge, it felt like it was right there," he said.
It was the sound of a 130-ton diesel locomotive bearing down on the railroad crossing. The SUV was trapped on the edge of the tracks, wedged in between gridlocked traffic and a snowbank.
"I could see the bumper, that the bumper and the track were right on top of each other," he said. "The clock is ticking...The horn was blaring on that train, and I can hear it coming."
In an instant, he pleaded with the other drivers to move forward. And video shot by another motorist illustrated that close calls don't get much closer than this.
"Had Officer Robertson not been there and taken swift action, the incident would have likely ended tragically," he said.