1977 — Oct 2, Amtrak train hits pickup (3 adults/7 minors), RR crossing, Plant City, FL- 10

–10 Ferrara, Grace M. (Ed.) The Disaster File: The 1970s. 1979, p. 51.
–10 Naples Daily News, FL. “19 Are Killed on Highways.” 10-3-1977, p. 10.
–10 Naples Daily News, FL. “Death Truck Driver Had Been Drinking.” 10-7-1977, p. 9.
–10 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. FARS 1975-2010 Fatality Analysis.
–10 Palm Beach Post, FL. “Board: Truck Driver at Fault in Train Crash.” 12-8-1978, p. D14.
–10 Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Crash That Killed Ten Under Investigation.” 10-4-1977.
–10 Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Driver Reported Under Influence.” 10-30-1977, p. 2.
–10 Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL. “10 in Pickup Die in Crash.” 10-3-1977, 1

Narrative Information

Oct 3, Assoc. Press in Naples Daily News: “Associated Press. The deaths of 10 people in a train-truck accident late Sunday [Oct 2] pushed Florida’s weekend death toll to at least 19, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Troopers said there were no survivors in the pickup truck that was shoved half-a-mile from a Plant City crossing by a St. Petersburg-bound Amtrak train. The identities of the victims, including seven children, were not immediately known….No one aboard the train was injured.” (Naples Daily News, FL. “19 Are Killed on Highways.” 10-3-1977, p. 10.)

Oct 3, United Press International: “Plant City, Fla. (UPI) — A Chicago-to-St. Petersburg Amtrak passenger train rammed at high speed into a pickup truck whose driver ignored warning signals Sunday night, killing at least 10 persons in a flaming crash, police authorities reported. Four of the bodies, including those of two children, were found in the charred remains of the truck. They were burned beyond recognition, said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper G. B. Sullivan.” (Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL. “10 in Pickup Die in Crash.” 10-3-1977, p. 1.)

Oct 4, Associated Press: “Plant City, Fla. (AP) — Federal accident investigators probed the site Monday where a collision between a passenger train and a pickup-camper claimed the lives of the 10 persons jammed into the truck. The tragedy brought to 379 the number of people killed in crossing accidents around the state since 1972.

“While members of the National Transportation Safety Board met with railroad officials and train crewmen to reconstruct the accident, medical and police personnel teamed at Tampa General Hospital to identify the men, women and children killed in the Sunday night wreck. It is believed there were seven young children and three adults, but the bodies were badly mutilated and charred. The victims were thought to be migrant workers from Florida and Texas. Plant City Sgt. Ruff in Cain said the identities of four of the victims was known by midday Monday but were being withheld until all victims had been identified.” (Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Crash That Killed Ten Under Investigation.” 10-4-1977, p. 10.)

Oct 7, Associated Press: “Plant City, Fla. (AP) – The driver of a pickup truck that was hit by a train had been drinking before the crash that killed 10 persons, federal investigators say. Marilyn Roberge, 26, a professional long distance driver, was at the wheel Sunday night when the camper-truck was rammed by an Amtrak passenger train traveling about 70 miles an hour, killing all occupants of the truck. The burning vehicle was shoved a half mile down the tracks.

“Warning lights at the crossing were operating at the time, police said.

“Mrs. Roberge had been partying much of the day and consumed a large quantity of beer before the accident, said James Sutton, a safety specialist with the National Transportation Safety Board which is investigating the accident. Sutton said he was told that by Ruth Allen, 39, who was in the vehicle before the crash. Mrs. Roberge and nine others had driven Mrs. Allen and her teen-age daughter, Karen, home to their trailer here and were headed back to Dade City when the crash occurred. The adults had been partying at the home of Mrs. Roberge’s mother… ‘Marilyn drove real well, not over 55 miles an hour to Plant City,’ Mrs. Allen said in a written statement to federal examiners.

“Mrs. Roberge had at least seven beers and refused some coffee before leaving the Allen home that night, Mrs. Allen told the St. Petersburg Times. Mrs. Roberge was still drinking beer till minutes before the crash, she said. ‘When we got to my house I made a pot of coffee,’ Mrs. Allen said. ‘I asked Marilyn if she wanted some. She said, ‘Hell no, I don’t want no coffee as long as I’ve got beer,’ the Times quoted Mrs. Allen in a copyrighted story….” (Naples Daily News, FL. “Death Truck Driver Had Been Drinking.” 10-7-1977, p. 9.)

Oct 30, Associated Press: “Tampa, Fla. (AP) – The driver of a truck that collided with a train killing 10 persons was definitely under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, according to the Hillsborough County medical examiner. Dr. Peter Lardizabal said that blood samples from Marilyn Roberge, 28, of Dade City, showed the woman’s blood alcohol level was .14 per cent the night of the fatal wreck outside Plant City. ‘If an individual weighing 160 pounds drank seven ounces of 100-proof whiskey’ his blood alcohol level would come to .14 per cent, Lardizabal said Friday. The report corroborates testimony given shortly after the wreck by acquaintances of Mrs. Roberge that she had been drinking large quantities of beer before the accident Oct. 2.” (Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Driver Reported Under Influence.” 10-30-1977, p. 2.)

Dec 8, Associated Press: “Washington (AP) – A federal safety board yesterday blamed the driver of a pickup truck, who was under the influence of alcohol for a truck-train collision that killed 10 persons in Florida last year.

“The National Transportation Safety Board also urged appropriate state and federal agencies to act to cut down on the high number of railroad grade crossing accidents that occur along a 240-mile corridor between Jacksonville and Tampa.

“The board report said the 28-year-old woman driver had plenty of time to stop after crossing lights began flashing and the Amtrak train horn sounded but instead proceeded onto the track and was hit broadside….The accident…involved Amtrak’s Floridian, on the final leg of its Chicago-to-St. Petersburg run….

“The board determined the probable cause of the accident ‘was the failure of the pickup truck driver, who was under the influence of alcohol, to stop short of the railroad tracks in response to the warnings’.’ It said an autopsy determined the driver had a blood alcohol level of .14 percent. The Florida traffic code states that a level of .10 or more is prima facie evidence of driving while under the influence of alcohol. The woman, who was not identified in the report, also was driving on a suspended chauffeur’s license, the board said….

“Investigators said she may have misjudged the nearness of the approaching train because many slower freight trains pass through that crossing each day. Both freights and the high-speed passenger trains activate the flashing signals 2,808 feet from the crossing. The investigators said a passenger train, traveling 70 mph as the Floridian was, would reach the crossing in 27.4 seconds after signal activation. A freight train moving 20 mph would require one minute, 30 seconds.

“As a result, the board recommended Plant City officials cooperate with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad to install automatic gates, cantilever flashing lights and uniform warning signal devices at the crossing where the accident happened.

“The board also noted the mishap occurred along the Jacksonville-Tampa rail corridor which has been the scene of many crossing accidents. It urged state and federal agencies to take actions to reduce the number of train-car collisions in this stretch. The report said the Amtrak crossing accident rate in the corridor is six times the national average. It said while Amtrak operates in 46 states, 17.8 percent of all its grade crossing accidents in 1975 through 1977 occurred in Florida.”
(Palm Beach Post, FL. “Board: Truck Driver at Fault in Train Crash.” 12-8-1978, p. D14.)

Sources

Ferrara, Grace M. The Disaster File: The 1970’s. New York: Facts on File, 1979.

Naples Daily News, FL. “19 Are Killed on Highways.” 10-3-1977, p. 10. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=64934518

Naples Daily News, FL. “Death Truck Driver Had Been Drinking.” 10-7-1977, p. 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=76550345

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Partial Data Dump of Crashes Involving 10 or More Fatalities, by Year, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1975-2009 Final and 2010 ARF. Washington, DC: NHTSA, pdf file provided to Wayne Blanchard, 1-26-2012.

Palm Beach Post, FL. “Board: Truck Driver at Fault in Train Crash.” 12-8-1978, p. D14. At: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19781208&id=LfEiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5ssFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1066,6211544

Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Crash That Killed Ten Under Investigation.” 10-4-1977, 10. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=159870809

Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Driver Reported Under Influence.” 10-30-1977, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=159871474

Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL. “10 in Pickup Die in Crash.” 10-3-1977, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=94534172