Truck driver involved in deadly 2022 Metra accident didn't have proper license, report says
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Last year, a woman killed upon being ejected from a Metra train following a crash with a box truck in west suburban Clarendon Hills.
We investigated the crash for months back in 2022. On Thursday, we finally learned more about the cause - with The National Transportation Safety Board releasing its final report.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, the report focuses on the cause of the crash – and the box truck that stalled on the crossing causing the crash back in May of last year. The report details a truck driver who wasn't properly licensed, so he didn't know how to restart the stalled truck to get it out of the way of the train.
The accident happened on the morning of May 11, 2022. A witness, Tom Szurgot, took video from a car waiting at the crossing. Bells are heard and red lights are flashing, but the truck is poised under a partially-lowered crossing gate.
First, two people are seen getting out of the truck as the Metra train sounds its horn. Then, the Metra train plows right into the truck, also demolishing the crossing gate and taking down overhead wires. A cloud of black smoke emerges on the other side of the train, and the remains of the truck are revealed to be on fire after the train passes.
Christina Lopez, 72, was killed when she was ejected through the window of the train.
The final report from the NTSB is our first time seeing photos of the box truck that investigators say stalled on the railroad crossing. The NTSB found the driver of that truck did not have a commercial license.
The NTSB found the driver's "failure management the box truck's power" caused "the box truck to stall on the railroad," and "his subsequent inability to restart the engine" caused the truck to block the train.
The report also cited the carrier's inadequate safety policies.
We brought the report to transportation expert Joe Schwieterman, a professor at DePaul University.
"We are way too permissive with heavy trucks and making sure all regulations are followed," Schwieterman said. "Corners are cut with truck drivers, you know, medical certifications have lapsed, commercial driver's license issues - nothing super-glaring, but a lot of smaller concerns that added up to a really unsafe situation that led to a fatality."
At the time of the accident, a concern was also raised about the safety of train windows and the risk of passenger ejections. We dug into past issues with train windows for months after this accident happened - finding faulty, damaged, or displaced windows playing a role in past accidents nationally.
But the NTSB report said the ejection from the window did not cause Lopez's death:
"Window retention was not a factor in the fatal injury sustained by one commuter train passenger. The evidence indicates that the fatal injury was sustained by the impact force of the rear of the box truck with the cab car sidewall near the passenger's seating location, and not as a result of the ejection itself. The impact forces from the box truck likely exceeded the cab car side wall strength requirement in 49 CFR 238. The NTSB has previously recommended that the Federal Railroad Administration develop side-impact crashworthiness standards for passenger railcars and then update federal regulations to reflect these new standards."
"I think it's tough with the windows, because you need to provide emergency crews access trains when there are accidents," Schwieterman said. "Those windows need to open."
We reached the trucking company, and were told they had no comment.
We also reached Lopez's family's attorneys for a comment on this final report. Attorney Steve Jambois released this statement:
"It highlights the complexity of this accident. Numerous failures by multiple parties that resulted in the tragic death of Mrs. Lopez. Any one or two of these parties - police departments, railroad, construction company, truck driver – had done their job properly Ms. Lopez would be here with her family for Christmas."
