The dramatic collision along Dixie Highway and Washington Street sent a Porsche, a Range Rover, BMWs, and a number of other vehicles careening off the trailer and ripped down several traffic signal lights. It was captured on video by a bystander.
"My god!" a man exclaims in the clip, as the high-speed train blares its horn and violently rips through the stack of luxury cars. "Oh my god."
Though Brightline said no one was injured in the crash, a Palm Beach County woman begs to differ.
Devin Babbit was riding the rail service down to Miami that evening to meet up with several friends, seated in the train's first few seats, when it crashed into the trailer — sending the 32-year-old passenger flying across the carriage, according to a lawsuit filed early this year in Broward County. She says the incident left her with injuries to her head, neck, and shoulder, for which she is still seeking treatment and therapy.Car transport truck just sitting on the tracks gets rammed by Brightline earlier today. This prompted suspension of service between Miami and Fort Lauderdale (via TikTok) pic.twitter.com/aMf9JnlP80
— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) April 13, 2023
"She got banged up pretty bad," her attorney, Jonathan Friedland, tells New Times.
The lawsuit accuses Brightline of negligence in operating the train and maintaining the tracks. Specifically, it alleges the company failed to take proper steps to prevent vehicles from getting stuck on the railway and failed to stop the train as soon as it became clear that a vehicle was on the tracks.
Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are Champion Autosport Transport and J Can Express, two Canadian companies that allegedly owned and operated the truck. The truck's driver and Florida East Coast Railway are listed as defendants as well.
Babbit is demanding compensation for her medical bills, and according to her lawyer, she's eager to find out who is responsible for her injuries.
"Something weird happened here," Friedland says. "This wasn't your usual guy trying to beat the tracks or a suicide attempt."
A spokesperson for Brightline declined to comment, noting that the company doesn't discuss pending litigation.
The company moved to dismiss the case in February, saying that Babbit was trying to hold Brightline responsible for "the co-defendants' behavior in operating the tractor trailer."
The train, which can reach a maximum speed of 120 miles per hour, powered through the trailer full of cars on April 12, 2023, amid an intense storm that poured more than 20 inches of rain around some areas of South Florida. Neighborhoods in Broward County received more than three months' worth of rain in one day during the deluge.
According to a police report obtained by New Times, the truck driver told police he was trying to make a left turn to head westbound on Washington Street when he noticed the traffic lights "completely out" because of the weather conditions.
As he went to turn left, he said, his tires lost traction. He then "heard a loud train horn when impact occurred," the report states.
It's unclear from the report whether the driver was in the tractor cab at the time of the collision. Police said there were "no reported injuries on scene."
In its motion to dismiss, Brightline claimed that the Florida Department of Transportation was responsible for maintaining the traffic signals and crossing gates at the intersection.
"Plaintiff's attempt to claim that defendants are responsible for the maintenance and/or construction of the crossing, and any allegations that the defendant failed to warn about the condition of the crossing...set forth a duty higher than that required by law," the motion argues.
Babbit's case appears to be the first instance of a Brightline passenger suing over injuries sustained in one of the frequently reported crashes involving the Florida train service.
Dubbed the deadliest train per mile in America by the Associated Press, Brightline has killed more than 100 people since its 2017 debut. New Times has logged more than 35 pedestrian and motorist deaths caused by collisions with the company's trains since January 2022 (See: "Death Train: A Timeline of Brightline Fatalities"). A majority of the incidents have involved pedestrians, some of whom police say died by suicide.
Since Brightline launched its long-awaited service to Orlando in September, which was delayed after a pedestrian was killed by the high-speed train on the morning of the launch, at least five people have died in Brightline collisions.
Last year in Martin County, a woman was reportedly able to escape her vehicle before it was obliterated by a Brightline train.
Martin County Sheriff's Office photo
The company said it would upgrade its railway with fencing, better safety signage, and raised pavement markers, among other upgrades between Brevard and Miami-Dade counties.
In June 2023, Brightline said that it had made "crucial safety improvements" at all 156 railroad crossings along a 129-mile corridor stretching from Cocoa to West Palm Beach, including installing quad gates and medians in certain higher-speed areas to prevent people from driving around lowered gate arms.
