A prominent jazz musician died after his automobile became stopped on a track, and was slammed by two high-speed trains within minutes of one other.
Thursday at around 1:40 p.m., 58-year-old Andrew Speight drove his black vehicle onto the rails at the Caltrain Broadway Station in Burlingame and was unable to move it.
He was hit by a southbound train and then a northbound train on the dual tracks within minutes.
Speight is the fourth person in a week to perish on the Caltrain network, as horrifying film depicts the aftermath of the crushed vehicle on the rails.
His vehicle was badly mangled on the rails, and investigators confirmed that Speight perished as a result of the crash.
A Caltrain spokesperson verified that Speight drove onto the rails from the parking lot at Broadway Station.
Friends paid homage to Speight as a “great and exceptional” man after his death was confirmed despite the arrival of emergency personnel.
Andrew Speight was fatally injured in the Thursday collision near the Caltrain Broadway Station in Burlingame, San Francisco.
The automobile was left crushed on the rails as horrifying footage reveals the aftermath of the fatal collision.
A proficient saxophonist, Speight directed programs at both Michigan State University and San Francisco State University.
He was born in Sydney and traveled to the US to teach music, receiving an Aria Award – Australia’s counterpart of the Grammys – for a highly praised CD in 1999 with the Andrew Speight Quartet.
Keys Jazz Bistro has staged a number of free performances in honour to the pianist Speight.
The owner, Simon Rowe, stated, “He lived the life of an artist in search of his jazz music inspiration.”
As a teacher and a mentor, as well as an excellent alto saxophone performer, he diligently created a community around the art form while continually striving to enhance his performance.
‘The whole community is trying to comprehend it and the greatest way to accomplish that is to perform beautiful music.’
In recent months, locals have complained about the crossing lights, with one calling them “extremely unsafe.”
Friends paid homage to Speight as a “great and exceptional” man after his death was confirmed despite the arrival of emergency personnel.
Locals have stated the lights at the crossing next to the station are ‘hazardous’ since they don’t always operate.
Jose Torres told NBC that similar incidents had happened before and branded the crossing as ‘very dangerous.’
He said: ‘These lights are highly unsafe. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t work.
‘About three or four months ago, they were repairing the lights, and then a week later it happened again’
The collision occurred less than a week after a Caltrain passenger was tragically struck while trespassing on the tracks at the Burlingame station last Friday.
In the previous five years, according to Caltrain, there have been seven accidents at the Burlingame Broadway crossing, including two fatalities.
In the previous two weeks, there have been three further fatalities on the system, including a passenger who was struck and killed by a passing train near Burlingame station on November 23.
During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a person was murdered while going through a Caltrain tunnel in San Francisco, and another person was killed between the Santa Clara station and the Lawrence station in Sunnyvale.
A talented saxophonist, Speight directed programs at both Michigan State University and San Francisco State University.
»Two trains struck a car trapped on a railroad track, killing a jazz musician«