BRANDYWINE, Md. -
Police say a man whose car crashed into a freight train in Brandywine may have been trying to beat it across the tracks.
Broken car parts were scattered for yards by the impact with the train that was heading to the Benning Freight Yard with three locomotives and 20 freight cars attached.
"The crossing signal was activated," says Prince George's County Cpl. Larry Johnson. "It was working. From what we've been told, the driver accelerated and was trying to beat the train."
The driver was rushed to the hospital by ambulance in critical condition.
A spokesman for the Prince George's County fire department says the car had plates indicating it was registered to a volunteer firefighter in the Bryans Road area of Charles County.
Police say the accident is a warning sign to all drivers.
"Don't take the chance," Johnson says. "Wait until the signal lights go out and the train fully passes."
