A 53-year-old man was hit and killed by a Utah Transit Authority train Friday after attempting to cross the railroad tracks while the crossing arm was lowered.
Delwin Laughridge, of American Fork, crossed the adjacent Union Pacific tracks about 7 p.m. Friday before trying to traverse the FrontRunner tracks by going beneath the crossing arm near 200 South and 500 West, UTA spokesman Carl Arky said.
In addition to the crossing gate being in place, Arky said there were “lights flashing and bells ringing,” but the man “never looked up.”
The UTA train operator saw the man, blasted the train horn and tried to stop, but hit Laughridge, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Arky said he doesn’t know why the man tried to walk across the tracks. He urged pedestrians to be aware of their surroundings at train crossings.
“If people aren’t paying attention or they’re distracted — they’re talking on their phone or they’ve got earbuds in, they’ve got their head down — there’s the potential for real trouble,” Arky said.
