Driver rescued from train tracks thanks WPD

WOONSOCKET – A local resident’s wrong turn onto the tracks of the Providence-Worcester Railroad at Verry Street and River Street turned out well on Sunday after local police officers assisted her in getting the vehicle off the active train route.

Their efforts to help impressed Cythnia Thayer of Castle Heights Court enough to prompt her appearance at the City Council meeting on Monday where she gave the police a public thank you during good and welfare.

Not only did the responding police officers calm her down when her vehicle was left disabled on the train tracks by the 9:50 p.m. incident, they also made quick arrangements to have it towed before a train rolled through the crossing 10 minutes later, Thayer told the Council.

“That 10 minutes made a difference whether I lived or died and I want to commend the Woonsocket Police Department for assisting me,” Thayer said. The crossing has seen more serious incidents in the past and a truck driver saw his tractor trailer struck by a train and knocked on its side just last year while attempting to negotiate Verry Street.

Thayer said she believed more lighting and other protective measures need to be installed at the crossing to make it safe for motorists passing through it during the nighttime hours.

Lt. John Picard said on Wednesday that the police department did contact Providence & Worcester about the traffic accident after the officers reported it into the station as is standard operating

procedure for anything involving local railroad tracks. The department was able to clear vehicle from the accident scene before a train came through the area, he added.

Public Safety Director Eugene Jalette said it was good to hear local police officers praised at the City Council meeting and said he too was appreciative of the actions of the three department members handling in the incident, Ptlm. Daniel Lajoie, Normand Guilbert and Scott Whiting.

Whiting had been behind Thayer as she entered the crossing area and saw her vehicle damaged after turning onto the rail bed and getting a flat front tire, he noted. Their work to hold up any oncoming train traffic and to tow the vehicle out of the danger area might be described as routine by the officers themselves, but as Thayer related later it wasn’t, he said.

“They obviously helped her out and she was very appreciative,” he said. “They would tell you that they were just doing their job but they did their job with exemplary performance and it is always good to hear good things about what a great job these department members do every day,” he said.