Boynton driver tries to beat Brightline train, is struck and killed
LAKE WORTH BEACH —A 36-year-old Boynton Beach man was killed Friday evening when his vehicle was struck by a Brightline train on Washington Avenue in Lake Worth Beach, according to police.
The deceased, Layfun Moore Jr., drove his 2017 Cadillac XTS past stopped traffic and around lowered railroad arms to beat the Brightline train at about 6:49 p.m. Friday, said an investigator with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Despite the lowered flashing arms and a loud alarm bell, Moore entered the crossing, “violating the train’s right of way.”
When Moore entered the crossing at Washington and Railroad avenues, his Cadillac was struck by the train, throwing it off the crossing and coming to rest on the west side of the railroad tracks. No passengers on the Brightline train reported injuries, deputies said.
The Associated Press has reported that Brightline is the deadliest train line per mile in the country. As of October, AP says its trains have killed at least 55 people across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties since its debut in 2017.
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At least two other fatalities have occurred this year at Brightline crossings in Lake Worth Beach. In August, a pedestrian walking east across the railroad tracks near 10th Avenue North and F Street was struck and killed by a Brightline train. In February, one person died after a Brightline train crashed into a vehicle a 17th Avenue North and F Street.
Investigators, as is the case with the most recent fatal accident, have concluded that none of the deaths were the railroad’s fault, determining that many were suicides or drivers or pedestrians trying to beat the trains.
Those trains travel up to 79 mph through densely populated urban and suburban areas along about 70 miles of track between Miami and West Palm Beach that it shares with the Florida East Coast freight line.
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Brightline has installed infrared detectors to warn engineers if anyone is lurking near the tracks so they can slow down or stop. The company has added more fencing and landscaping to make track access more difficult, and is installing red-light cameras at crossings to enable police to ticket drivers who go around guardrails.
In August, Brightline received $25 million as part of a joint federal and state initiative for safety upgrades along the corridor, which carries Brightline trains and FEC freight trains.
The money will help pay for roadway paintings and warning signs near crossings, raised pavement markers like the plastic cylinders drivers see separating interstate express lanes to prevent people from leaving their lanes, and 33 miles of fencing to prevent trespassers from moving onto the tracks. New suicide hotline signs also will be posted.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boynton motorist killed by Brightline train in Lake Worth Beach
