22 February 2024 , 03:34
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Jaw-dropping footage captured the moment an Amazon delivery van was completely split in half by a speeding train, with its driver dodging death by inches.
Alexander Evans was driving along a route in Ixonia, Wisconsin, which is about 42 miles (67.5km) west of Milwaukee, sometime in November 2021. Dash cam footage shows him making his way along the route, turning a corner here and there, seemingly utterly unaware of what was about to hit him — literally.
One second, poor Evans was sitting in the driver's seat, turning the steering wheel as he rounded a corner. The next, debris was raining down around him, and the entire back of his delivery truck was missing. Some of the packages and other pieces of the vehicle could be seen in the harrowing footage, which was obtained by TMZ, getting sucked into the stream of air caused by a speeding Amtrak train.
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The delivery truck was completely split in half, but Evans survived narrowly from his position in the driver's seat (ABC 7 CHICAGO)Miraculously, Evans was alright. He hadn't been harmed by the barrelling train — though the same could not be said for the company truck. But how did he survive? And how did he not see or hear the train approaching?
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Speaking with local TV station WISN, Evans said he's deaf in his left ear — the one that would have been facing his window — and so therefore couldn't hear the train's warning horns until after it had already hit his vehicle.
Evans said there were hardly any markings or warning signs or sounds near the train crossing to indicate the impending danger (ABC 7 CHICAGO)The speed at which it was approaching and the conditions around the tracks also made it impossible for Evans to see it approaching, he said, and when he did, it was already seconds away from hitting him, so he said he stepped on the gas in a desperate attempt to evade it enough so that it wouldn't hit him where he sat in the driver's seat.
That desperate gamble paid off, and he lived, even as the rest of his truck was blown to bits behind him. The video showed the airbags going off inside the vehicle, providing some padding for the wild ride that ensued after he was hit.
He told WISN that he called for help after scrambling to find his phone after the collision. He was in shock the entire time. "Yeah, it just, boom," he said. "I still can't believe it myself."
The terrifying video showed the moment of the collision, the second Evans' truck was ripped away behind him (ABC 7 CHICAGO)The station reported that Evans is the father of two young girls and that the crash fatefully happened on his 30th birthday as well. He was completely uninjured in the crash but was sore for a while after, he said.
The problem, he said, is that there were no signals, lights, sounds or anything else to warn drivers of the impending danger the trains crossing at that spot pose. He called for additional safety measures to be put in place after his near-death experience, but it's unclear as of yet if any changes have been made.