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Train Smashes Into Car as Driver Falls Asleep on The Crossing

One woman from Taiwan is lucky to be alive after the car she was in was hit by a high-speed train, after she nodded off on the crossing. Her friend, traveling with her in the car, also emerged from the crash unharmed.
Train smashes into car as female driver nods off at the wheel in Taiwan 6 photos
Photo: YouTube / Viral Press
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The incident actually happened earlier this year in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, but footage of it is just now gaining traction online. You can see it at the bottom of the page: it was shot by a camera from a vehicle in front and shows the dramatic moment Chen wakes up to realize the train is coming, as well as her attempts to get around the barrier.

The Daily Mail says Chen told the cops that she was very tired, so she missed the signals that the train was coming. She is seen driving on the crossing moments before the barrier comes down, and then coming to a full stop. That’s when she “nodded off.”

Strangely enough, she wasn’t alone in the car, so there’s no explanation for the delayed response time. Chen was with a friend in the passenger seat, yet it took her some time to attempt to remove the car from the crossing.

Her mistake was thinking she could go through the space in between the barriers. She didn’t want to back away or move forward and smash through them, so she backed to create an angle. This cost her precious time, so the train hit the car hard.

Meanwhile, “the passenger then decided time was running out and jumped out of the car to make a dash for safety to press the emergency release button on the barriers,” the Mail writes.

Perhaps the strangest part of the story is that both women walked away from the incident almost unharmed. Chen received some cuts and scratches to her cheek, but was able to crawl out of the wreck on her own.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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