Train Collides With Car.

Date: 06/18/2007
Time: Around 9:00 A.M.
Location: Elyria, Ohio
Vehicle(s) Involved: Buick Park Avenue

By TMCNews

"A car that had been reported as driving erratically on Cleveland Street went off the road on East Bridge Street near the Lorain County Blood Bank this morning around 9am. The car came to rest on a set of railroad tracks behind the Blood Bank with the driver slumped over the wheel.

Elyria Firefighters and LifeCare Paramedics were checking the people inside the car when they noticed a train come around the corner from the west. Elyria Police Officers on scene were instructing their dispatch to contact the railroad to stop the train and shut down the rails. The train continued toward the car while Firefighters and Medics scrambled to get the two people out of the car and placed in a safe area. The train was unable to stop in time and collided with the passenger side front of the Park Ave.

“This vehicle drove up the hillside here along side of the Blood Bank and hit some obstructions along side of the tracks and catapulted up onto the rails. Officers responded and the driver was slumped in the front seat at the time. The driver and his wife were pulled quickly and carefully from the wreckage. The call went into Conrail to stop the trains but they could not stop them in time. I will be examining the driver and have more details later today.” Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus

The woman in the car was flown from EMH to Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland."

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Elyria Teen Killed In Crash.

Date: 06/15/2007
Time: Around 12:30 A.M.
Location: Near Wakeman, Ohio
Vehicle(s) Involved: Ford F-150

By TMCNews

"The Ohio State Highway Patrol says that Jake P. Nolan, 18 of Elyria, was the driver of the Ford F-150 that crashed into the woods on Gore Orphanage Road late last night.

In a media release the State Patrol says that Nolan was southbound on Gore Orphanage when he “failed to negotiate a curve” around 12:30am. The truck then struck a guard rail and a tree before coming to rest deep in the woods. Nolan was not wearing a safety belt and was ejected from the truck. Nolan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Drug and alcohol use is unknown at this time. The State Patrol said the crash remains under investigation.

During a conversation with TMC NEWS late last night at the scene, Lt. Peterson from the State Patrol said that counting this crash the number of fatal crashes for Lorain County this year is 10, there were 27 total in 2006. “This is actually our 4th fatal crash up here in Vermilion, Henrietta Township so we are going to start a Problem Behavior Identification Zone; we’re going to start working a little more diligently in this northern corner.” Last year the State Patrol did the same program in the southern portion of the county after there were 14 fatal crashes in that area. To this point there has only been one fatal cash in the southern townships this year and that was involving the farm tractor.

Peterson said that in all 4 fatal crashes in the northern area involved “aggressive driving”. “In other words there was excessive speed involved, alcohol involved and these are the kinds of things that if we’re up here and we can maybe stop them through educational things, engineering things. It’s like this crash, is there anything we can do to make this a safer curve, maybe bring the county garage out and look at their signs to see if there is anything they can do with that.”

Stop signs or not Lt. Peterson said it always comes back to the driver. “It always comes down to the driver, driving within reasonable means that he can always stop whatever the situation might be.”  "

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