Second person in two days struck, killed by SMART train in Rohnert Park
SMART train fatal crashes
Jan. 31, 2018: Marion Harrison, 64, of Santa Rosa was standing on the tracks when she was struck and killed by a train near Hearn Avenue. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Aug. 13, 2018: Marcia Eleanor Fisher, 72, was hit by a SMART train at the Hamilton Station in Novato. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Aug. 30, 2018: Joseph De Frates, 29, was wearing headphones and looking down when he walked into the path of a northbound train on Golf Course Drive in Rohnert Park. His death was ruled an accident.
Nov. 16, 2018: Michael Rosenberg, 68, died in an early-morning crash when he was hit by a southbound train near the Hearn Avenue pedestrian crossing. Authorities said he had his back to the train and did not respond to the engineer’s horn, leading officials to rule his death a suicide.
June 27, 2019: Jimmie Joy Qualls, 30, went under lowered gates on Golf Course Drive in Rohnert Park in an apparent attempt to beat a northbound train. Although the investigation is ongoing, officials believe her death was accidental.
June 28, 2019: Gary Raymond Danning, 66, of Santa Rosa, rode his bicycle into the path of a train crossing Golf Course Drive near Commerce Boulevard. He had a hood on and his head down, and may have been wearing headphones. Although the investigation is ongoing, officials believe his death was accidental.
For the second time in two days, a SMART train hit and killed a person at the same Rohnert Park intersection.
It was the third fatal crash at the Golf Course Drive crossing and the sixth deadly train collision for the North Bay passenger rail line since service began in August 2017.
A man riding a bicycle Friday morning was struck by a southbound Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit train shortly before 6:42 a.m. Less than 24 hours earlier, Jimmie Joy Qualls, 30, was run over by a train after she walked under a gate crossing arm and then was hit on the tracks by a northbound train believed to be going between 65 mph to 70 mph. Qualls was apparently homeless, and earlier this week was warned multiple times by a SMART code enforcement officer not to walk on the train tracks.
The unidentifed bicyclist, who investigators said appeared to be in his 60s, was riding west on the southside sidewalk toward the rail line. Video from the SMART train showed the cyclist approaching the tracks wearing a hooded pullover and his head down apparently with headphones in his ears, Rohnert Park Public Safety Deputy Chief Aaron Johnson said.
“As he approached the tracks, it looks like he acknowledged the train and tried to dismount his bike to get out of the way, at which point he was struck,” said Johnson, who noted the crash appeared to be accidental. The Sonoma County Coroner’s office was trying to identify the man Friday.
The operator of the train, carrying 54 passengers, laid on the horn and activated an emergency brake, but couldn’t avert the crash. The man’s body was discovered roughly 75 yards south of the point of impact with the train. It was unclear how fast the train was going, though trains in that area can reach 79 mph, said Jennifer McGill, chief of police for SMART.
Two different operators were driving the trains involved in Thursday and Friday’s crashes, McGill said.
Before the deadly collision Friday morning, the train’s warning lights were flashing and investigators determined the gate arm blocking traffic on Golf Course Drive — but not the sidewalk where the cyclist was riding — was properly deployed. Just east of the tracks at the intersection, a sign on the sidewalk states: “Watch for Trains.”
The California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates rail safety statewide, is investigating both of this week’s deaths caused by SMART trains, an agency spokesman said.
Despite back-to-back fatal crashes at the same Rohnert Park intersection, McGill insisted the transit line’s deadliest train crossing is in compllance with applicable rail safety rules and said there are no immediate plans to bolster safety there. SMART uses pedestrian arms to block crossings at intersections where only pedestrians can walk across the tracks and has no plans to make an exception for the Golf Course Drive crossing, she said.
“We do not plan on adding pedestrian arms at this time at the crossing at Golf Course Drive because each crossing on the SMART line is safe exactly as they are,” McGill said. “They all meet state and federal guidelines for safety.”
As usual, however, after fatal collisions, SMART’s senior leaders will gather to discuss whether any improvements are warranted along the 43-mile rail line stretching from San Rafael north to the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in north Santa Rosa.
SMART train fatal crashes
Jan. 31, 2018: Marion Harrison, 64, of Santa Rosa was standing on the tracks when she was struck and killed by a train near Hearn Avenue. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Aug. 13, 2018: Marcia Eleanor Fisher, 72, was hit by a SMART train at the Hamilton Station in Novato. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Aug. 30, 2018: Joseph De Frates, 29, was wearing headphones and looking down when he walked into the path of a northbound train on Golf Course Drive in Rohnert Park. His death was ruled an accident.
Nov. 16, 2018: Michael Rosenberg, 68, died in an early-morning crash when he was hit by a southbound train near the Hearn Avenue pedestrian crossing. Authorities said he had his back to the train and did not respond to the engineer’s horn, leading officials to rule his death a suicide.
June 27, 2019: Jimmie Joy Qualls, 30, went under lowered gates on Golf Course Drive in Rohnert Park in an apparent attempt to beat a northbound train. Although the investigation is ongoing, officials believe her death was accidental.
June 28, 2019: Gary Raymond Danning, 66, of Santa Rosa, rode his bicycle into the path of a train crossing Golf Course Drive near Commerce Boulevard. He had a hood on and his head down, and may have been wearing headphones. Although the investigation is ongoing, officials believe his death was accidental.