A man escaped virtually unharmed after a train hit his brand new truck Saturday afternoon.
Lt. Mike Stokes with the Houston County Sheriff's Office says 74-year-old Jerry Battle of Warner Robins received only minor injuries when a train hit is 2012 GMC Sierra at the intersection of Highway 247 and West Houston Drive around 3:30 p.m.
Stokes says he talked to the conductor of the train, and he says the conductor saw Battle stop, look at the train, and keep going. He says the conductor had already put on all the brakes on the train, but was still traveling around 40 miles per hour when it hit the bed of Battle's truck.
"People need to realize it takes about a mile for trains to stop," Battle said. "I think the speed limit for trains through that area is 50 miles per hour so, the train was probably going around 40 when it hit."
The lieutenant says when the train hit the truck started to spin, but was stopped by the gravel. He says the truck then slid down the shoulder and flipped on its passenger side.
"They had to cut him out of the vehicle," he said referring to Houston County Fire Department Station Five.
Stokes says Battle received a few bumps and bruises, but it otherwise okay. An ambulance took him to the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.
The crossing does not have any crossing bars or warning lights, just a railroad crossing sign. Stokes says it's because that particular crossing it what's known as a "passive crossing." Only "active crossings" have crossing bars.