Train hits man’s bicycle wheel; downtown Modesto traffic backs up

A man escaped serious injury Thursday morning after a train crushed his bicycle’s rear wheel as he tried to cross railroad tracks in downtown Modesto.

Traffic at each downtown railroad crossing was backed up for close to an hour. The train was stopped, blocking traffic, as railroad officials looked for anyone else on the tracks and examined the train for possible damage.

Modesto police Sgt. Gary Crawford said the man was walking his bicycle across the tracks at L and Eighth streets about 11 a.m. as the train was approaching. The railroad crossing arms were down, and lights and sounds were warning pedestrians and drivers that a train was coming.

Crawford said the man tried to cross the tracks anyway. Witnesses did not see the train hit the bicycle’s rear wheel, but did spot him getting up from the ground.

The man told bystanders “I thought I had more time to make it across,” according to Crawford. The man told police he doesn’t move as well as he used to.

The police sergeant said the man had drunk a couple of beers earlier in the day that might have impaired his judgment. Medics examined him and found only a minor cut on his hand. He was cited for crossing the railroad tracks illegally and released.

Some drivers made their way around the stopped train by heading north on Eighth Street and using the overpass from Kansas Avenue to Needham Street. Others remained backed up at the railroad crossings until about 11:50 a.m., when the train was moved down the tracks.

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Train hits man’s bicycle wheel; downtown Modesto traffic backs up."