LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — A 36-year-old Boynton Beach male driver was struck and killed by a Brightline train Friday night in Lake Worth Beach, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and the Sheriff's Office said.
Layfun Moore Jr., driving a 2917 Cadillac, was pronounced dead by PBCFR paramedics on the scene.
At approximately 6:50 Friday, PBCFR units were dispatched to the intersection of 15th Avenue South and Railroad Avenue, the agency told WPTV.
Upon arrival, PBCFR units found one person down on the tracks operated by Florida East Coast Railway.
Moore was traveling eastbound on Washington Avenue, approaching the railroad crossing, before the collission.
The Brightline passenger train was traveling northbound.
As the train approached the intersection, Moore drove past stopped traffic and around the activated railroad warning arms, which were lowered with lights flashing and alarm bell sounding), PBSO said. He entered the railroad crossing and violated the train's right of way northbound.
The train impacted the passenger side of the car, before throwing the vehicle off the railroad crossing in a northwesterly direction. The Cadillac came to final rest on the west side of the railroad tracks, north of the area of impact.
The train was brought to a controlled rest north of the area of the collision.
No passengers on the Brightline train reported any injuries.
In August, a pedestrian walking east across the railroad tracks near 10th Avenue North and F Street in Lake Worth Beach was struck and killed by a Brightline train. That week it was the third time in a week that a person died in an accident with a Brightline train in Palm Beach County.
In February, one person died after a Brightline train crashed into a vehicle a 17th Avenue North and F Street in Lake Worth.
On Monday, it was announced Brightline will receive another $20,000 in federal money to help keep people alert to the dangers of its high-speed trains that will travel along the railroad’s new extension between West Palm Beach and Orlando. The grant was awarded by Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail crossings and preventing trespassing around railroad tracks.
In August, Brightline received $25 million as part of a joint federal and state initiative for safety upgrades along the corridor, which carries Brightline trains and FEC freight trains.