DART Train Slams Into Car Near Buckner Station, Trapped Driver Freed by Crews

A driver was hospitalized in critical condition after a DART light rail train collided with a passenger vehicle near Buckner Station in Southeast Dallas, trapping the driver inside the wreckage before rescue crews pulled them free. The crash happened around 6:40 p.m. yesterday near the intersection of Jim Miller Road and C.F. Hawn Freeway, close to DART's most southeastern stop on the Green Line.

According to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas Fire-Rescue reported the collision between the train and the vehicle, and DART Police are now investigating what caused the accident. NBC 5 sent a crew to the scene as details continued to develop Friday night. The outlet's reporting, credited to Charles Nichelson, remains the primary account of exactly how the crash unfolded.

Fire Crew Happened Upon the Wreck

The timing of the emergency response was unusual: a passing Dallas Fire-Rescue unit actually witnessed the crash occur and called for a full heavy rescue response for the trapped driver, according to CBS News Texas. That heavy rescue call was ultimately cancelled after the first arriving truck crew managed to free the driver on their own, the station reported. The driver was hospitalized in critical condition, per NBC 5's reporting.

DART spokesperson Erin Myers confirmed that train traffic along the Green Line was temporarily halted following the crash so crews could clear the track area, the same CBS News Texas report noted. Despite the disruption, DART's own alert page showed no routes impacted at the time NBC 5 checked, suggesting normal service had resumed by the time the report published.

A Station in the Middle of Major Construction

Buckner Station opened in December 2010 during the second expansion phase of DART's Green Line and serves as the southeastern terminal stop on the 24-station line running through Pleasant Grove, according to background compiled from Dallas Area Rapid Transit records. The station is currently in the middle of a major transit-oriented development effort, with DART partnering with Palladium USA and the City of Dallas on a project that will replace part of the station's parking lot with 304 affordable and mixed-income apartments, expected to be complete by late 2027. That construction has been reshaping traffic flow and pedestrian access around the platform for months.

DART's rail network overall spans 93 miles and 65 stations across four lines, making it one of the largest light rail systems in the country. The agency's Green Line connects Southeast Dallas neighborhoods like Pleasant Grove to downtown and North Carrollton, putting yesterday's crash site squarely along one of the system's busiest connective corridors.

Part of a Wider Pattern on Texas Rail Crossings

Yesterday's collision is not an isolated event on DART's grid. Just six weeks earlier, a DART Green Line train collided with a commercial box truck that ran a red light near the Pearl/Arts District Station in downtown Dallas, sending five train passengers to the hospital, as Hoodline previously reported. Statewide, the numbers back up the concern: Texas recorded 262 highway-rail grade crossing collisions in 2025, resulting in 28 fatalities and 83 injuries, leading every state in the nation in such incidents, according to data from Operation Lifesaver.

Nationally, there were 2,273 highway-rail grade crossing collisions across the U.S. in 2025, and roughly half of all motor vehicle-train crashes occurred at crossings equipped with active warning devices like lights and gates, per the same Operation Lifesaver data. That statistic underscores that automated signals alone don't eliminate the risk of a vehicle and train meeting at the wrong moment, even at crossings designed to prevent exactly that.

Legal Path Forward Complicated by Government Immunity

Any legal claims stemming from the crash would likely run into a complex framework. Because DART is a regional transportation authority established under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 452, legal liability for train-vehicle collisions is governed by statutory sovereign immunity rules under the Texas Tort Claims Act, according to legal analysis from Varghese Summersett. That immunity generally limits monetary recovery from governmental transit agencies unless specific statutory exceptions apply.

Dallas Fire-Rescue, which handled yesteray's extrication, operates 59 fire stations with more than 1,900 personnel and specialized technical rescue units, making it the second-largest fire department in Texas. Key questions remain open, including whether crossing gates or signal equipment were functioning properly at the time of the crash and the exact vehicle movements that preceded the impact. DART Police have not yet released findings from their investigation into the cause.