A car ended up pinned underneath a train in Memphis, video of the scene circulating as the latest reminder that the city's rail crossings remain a persistent danger for drivers. Details on the exact location, the driver's condition, and how the vehicle became trapped were not immediately available.
The incident was first reported by FOX13 Memphis, which published video showing the car lodged beneath the train. The station's report did not specify whether anyone was injured or how emergency crews responded, and those details remain unclear.
A City With a History of Deadly Crossings
Memphis has seen a string of dangerous vehicle-train encounters in recent years. In February 2023, two people were killed in South Memphis after a train collided with a vehicle at a railroad crossing shortly after midnight, according to WREG News Channel 3. Roughly five months later, a July 2023 collision at Southern Avenue and Perkins Extended injured a woman and blocked multiple rail crossings across East Memphis for several hours, as reported by localmemphis.com.
In May 2024, a Memphis Police Department squad car parked on rail tracks in South Memphis during a prowler investigation was struck and damaged by a train, though no officers were inside at the time, Hoodline previously reported. And South Memphis rail safety drew federal attention again in February 2026, when an Amtrak passenger train carrying 128 people collided with a freight train, prompting a National Transportation Safety Board investigation that Hoodline covered in its reporting on the agency's finding that Amtrak had passed a signal before the crash.
Why Tennessee Crossings Are So Dangerous
The recurring incidents reflect a broader statewide pattern. Tennessee ranked 10th in the nation for highway-rail grade crossing collisions in 2025, recording 61 crashes, 5 fatalities, and 33 injuries, according to preliminary federal rail safety statistics cited by SValleyNow.com. Nationally, preliminary 2025 Federal Railroad Administration figures show 2,226 highway-rail grade crossing collisions occurred across the country, with a motor vehicle or pedestrian struck by a train roughly every three hours, per Operation Lifesaver.
Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-8-145, drivers approaching a railroad crossing with an active signal or an oncoming train are legally required to stop between 15 and 50 feet from the nearest rail and remain stopped until it is safe to proceed, according to Justia Law. A December 2023 report from the Tennessee Comptroller's Office warned that stopped freight trains blocking road crossings create severe public safety hazards in urban areas like Memphis, delaying emergency responders and tempting drivers or pedestrians to take dangerous risks, as detailed by the Memphis Flyer.
The Physics Behind a Pinned Vehicle
The danger a stalled or trapped vehicle faces on the tracks comes down to simple physics. A standard 12-million-pound freight train pulling 100 cars while traveling at 50 mph requires approximately one full mile to come to a complete stop once emergency brakes are applied, according to safety educational data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. That stopping distance means a vehicle caught on or beneath the tracks has little chance of avoiding impact even if a train operator spots it in advance.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation oversees safety and warning infrastructure at more than 2,800 public at-grade railroad crossings statewide through its federal Section 130 Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing Program. Whether the crossing involved in this latest Memphis incident was equipped with active warning signals, or whether the vehicle became stuck before the train approached, remains unknown.
Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available about the driver's condition and the circumstances that led the car to become pinned beneath the train.
