A Thursday afternoon drive in Theodore, Alabama, ended in tragedy when police say 41-year-old James Cobb drove around lowered railroad crossing arms in an attempt to beat an Amtrak train. The train struck the car, splitting it in half and scattering debris along the tracks. Cobb and his fiancée, 44-year-old Suzanne Wages, were both killed. Mobile police say the crossing arms and warning lights were functioning normally at the time.
The couple’s son celebrated his seventh birthday the same day. Leonard Whitfield, an assistant pastor and family friend who heard the crash from nearby, confirmed the devastating timing of the loss. Mobile Police spokesman Blake Brown told reporters the message is simple: don’t try to outrun a train, and don’t go under the arms, because they’re there for a reason.
What makes this crash even more troubling is that it isn’t the first at this location. In February, a 31-year-old mother named Brittany Williams and her 8-year-old daughter were killed at the same crossing, prompting earlier warnings to drivers. With two deadly crashes in seven months at one crossing in the Mobile area, this story hits home for anyone who regularly crosses railroad tracks here on the Suncoast, whether near the fairgrounds, the industrial corridors, or the rail lines that carry freight and passengers through our communities. Next time those lights start flashing, the safest choice is the only choice: stop and wait. Have you talked with your family about railroad crossing safety?
