Pepsi van nearly demolished by train after driving through crossing: ‘A miracle that he made it’
A train enthusiast captured 💦the heart-pounding moment a train nearly to💯re a Pepsi van to shreds in Virginia.
Bob Brown was filming the crossing gate near US Highway 58 in South Bostoཧn, Va., on J▨uly 13 as a coal train approached.
The vidඣeo shows the Pepsi van driving toward the crossing before slamming on the brakes and bumping into the arm of the gate.
The driver then slightly reverses away from the tracks, bending the gate’s arm backward, but stops before appearing to drive the van forward intentionally.
The van then crosses over tꦜhe tracks, narrowly avoiding being tur⛦ned into twisted metal by the train.
“It was a miracle that he made it,” ꦆBroꦦwn told .
“Based on the speed o🗹f the train and the speed of the van, I thought we were going to see crumpled metal or worse, but he made it.”
The train was ultimately for🦹ced to come to a stop after the 🔴potentially fatal incident.
Brown 🧔posted the video on&nbs𒁏p;, which amassed over 30,000 views.
Commenters on the social media platform were stunned that the driver appeared to pull forward 🌸after stopping safely from the tracks and right as the train passed through the ✨crossing.
“Wow… definitely needs to reevaluate꧂d as a driver,” one user wrote.
“Pepsi driver needs to be reported,” anothe♈r commented.
“That poor train driver was probably having a strok♔e trying to slow down too,” anoꦕther alluded.
Tommy Cobbs, 53, was reported to be the driver of the Pepsi van, reported — citing an incident report from the Virginia State Police.
Cobbs was not injured during the incident.
He was charged by police with failure to 📖obey sig𒈔ns and markings, according to the outlet.
The colliꦚs🎉ion caused $2,000 in damage, the report from the Virginia State Police stated.
More than 2,000 incidents and 200 fatal👍ities at grade crossings occur each year around the US, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
