A 66-year-old woman was injured in a collision with a train at a Hopewell, Virginia railroad crossing without warning lights. Police say the accident occurred as the woman was crossing the railroad track on Elm Street about 1:15 p.m. She was driving east when the southbound train struck her vehicle in the rear.

According to a spokesperson from the Hopewell Police Department, train accidents are not common at the intersection even though it does not have warning lights or crossing arms. Only a railroad crossing sign and stop lines painted on the pavements warn motorists they are approaching railroad tracks.

The police spokesperson says it has been more than two years since there have been train accidents at the crossing. Although actual crashes are rare, local residents wish the crossing had warning signals. Nearby residents say they have seen numerous close calls over the years. In fact, one woman says she now takes a longer route to work to avoid the crossing after having a close call with her child in the car.

Although this is the first train accident in the Tri-Cities area in several years, it is not the first time a Tri-Cities motorist or pedestrian has collided with a train.

In 2009, train accidents killed two Tri-Cities residents. The first accident occurred in March 2009 when a northbound train had a fatal collision with a 35-year-old Colonial Heights woman. The accident took place north of Colonial Heights in the Millside neighborhood at the Pine Forest Drive crossing.

Later in 2009, a Norfolk Southern train hit and killed a 49-year-old Petersburg man. The accident occurred in the vicinity of Oak Hill Road and Homestead Drive in Petersburg.

Source: The Progress Index, "Woman injured in collision with train," Dec. 31, 2011.