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Margarita Garcia was taken to the hospital on Thursday morning after her vehicle collided with an Amtrak train on Pembroke Road in Broward County.
According to local police, Garcia was looking down at her cellphone as she sat on the tracks with an Amtrak train approaching. Train personnel saw her, sounded the horn and applied the emergency brakes.
The train hit the passenger side of the vehicle, which was traveling east at the time. Garcia was cited for texting and driving and failing to obey a railroad crossing.
Garcia suffered non-life-threatening injuries, though it could have been much worse if the train personnel had not spotted her.
When paramedics arrived, all of the vehicles occupants were outside of the car which was in the middle of the train tracks. No crew members or train passengers were injured. Both sides of Pembroke Road were closed for about three hours.
In 2011, more than 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle accidents involving a distracted driver. Altogether, about 17 percent of injury crashes in 2011 were caused by distractions. Of these accidents, about 5 percent involved the use of a cellphone at the time of the accident.
If you or someone you love has been injured in an auto accident caused by a distracted driver, the car accident lawyers at Gordon & Partners can help you determine what your legal rights are. Victims may be entitled to file a claim for damages they incurred.
For a free review of your claim, call our WPB injury lawyers at 1 (855) 722-2552 or fill out the contact form on this page.
