A 22-year-old Durham man was killed Saturday afternoon when the Honda sedan he was driving crashed into a CSX freight train at a Main Street railroad crossing in Lucama, a small Wilson County town where the gate arms were reportedly down and functioning normally at the time. Bryant Hardy died at the scene, and the crash remains under investigation as authorities try to determine why he did not stop.
According to WRAL, the collision happened before 12:30 p.m. Saturday near the railroad tracks by Main Street. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Hardy was traveling roughly 25 mph and did not stop before reaching the crossing, instead crashing through the lowered arm and into the side of the southbound train, which had already traveled about halfway across the intersection. The train's engineer reportedly told officials he did not initially realize the train had struck a car, and the train did not come to a stop until it had traveled a few miles further down the line.
Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department, Wilson County EMS, the Wilson County Sheriff's Office and CSX all responded to the scene, per the same account. The Highway Patrol confirmed the crossing arms were down and operating properly at the time of the crash, though investigators have not said why Hardy's car entered the crossing anyway — a detail that remains unresolved as the investigation continues.
A Second Lucama Rail Collision in Less Than Two Weeks
Saturday's fatality was not the first vehicle-train collision near Lucama this summer. Just 11 days earlier, on July 28, a farm truck stalled on the tracks nearby and was struck by an Amtrak train, though that driver survived, according to The Wilson Times. Lucama itself is a rural community of just 892 residents, according to 2020 Census data cited in the N.E.W. Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, sitting directly along CSX's active main rail line — a corridor that, according to CSX, carries an average of 1,848 freight trains a day across the company's 20,000-mile network.
Under North Carolina General Statute § 20-142.1, drivers approaching a railway grade crossing are required to come to a complete stop when a gate arm is lowered or an active signal shows an approaching train. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles Driver Handbook also specifically warns drivers that crossing gate arms are flexible and designed not to trap a vehicle, instructing motorists who find themselves on the tracks when gates drop to drive straight through the barrier rather than stopping or attempting to reverse — guidance aimed at preventing exactly the kind of stall-and-strike scenario that played out in the July 28 crash near Lucama.
Rail Safety Numbers Paint a Wider Picture
Statewide, preliminary 2025 Federal Railroad Administration figures compiled by Operation Lifesaver ranked North Carolina 14th nationally for highway-rail grade crossing collisions, with 49 collisions, 3 fatalities and 15 injuries recorded. The same data placed North Carolina 10th nationally for pedestrian rail trespassing casualties in 2025, with 37 total casualties including 26 fatalities and 11 injuries.
Research from the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NC State, reported by North Carolina Health News, used video surveillance to document 100 near-miss interactions where people narrowly avoided incoming trains at active North Carolina rail crossings over a two-year study period — a reminder that dangerous crossing encounters happen far more often than fatality statistics alone suggest. The North Carolina Department of Transportation's standardized crash cost estimates value each fatal train collision in the state at $13.333 million in combined economic and societal impact, underscoring the toll such crashes take beyond the immediate loss of life.
Wilson County's rail corridor saw a stretch of maintenance work in August and September 2024, when CSX closed double-track crossings for three to five days at a time to complete surfacing and replace railroad ties, according to the City of Wilson. It is not known from available information whether that maintenance had any connection to conditions at the Main Street crossing where Saturday's crash occurred. As of Saturday, investigators had not released further details on why Hardy's Honda entered the crossing, and the Highway Patrol's investigation remains ongoing.
