BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A pedestrian was killed Thursday when police say she ignored the railroad crossing signals and was hit by a Brightline train in Melbourne.
It’s the first death in Brevard County related to the new high-speed rail service.
According to Melbourne police, 60-year-old Lisa Molnar was struck and killed Thursday at 2:46 p.m. near a crossing at Aurora Road just off U.S. 1 in Melbourne.
The police are investigating the incident.
“There could be more measures taken because if you’re not paying attention and you think it’s good and the train, they come pretty fast so, you might think you’re OK, but you’re not,” said Nicole Tabenske, a Melbourne neighbor.
A local business owner told WESH 2 that the crossing signals appeared to be working fine around the time of the incident.
The high-speed rail service connecting Central Florida to South Florida started on Sept. 22.
t passes through Brevard, but does not stop.
Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey’s concern about railroad crossing safety is high.
The Brightline trains pass right through downtown and has one of the busiest pedestrian rail crossings in all of Brevard.
“You have a lot of people coming and going, you are right off U.S. 1, so you don’t have much margin of error on the turn, so you really have to be careful and it’s going to take a bit of getting used to,” Alfrey said.
Before Brightline kicked off its service, they pushed out public service announcements on railroad safety that emphasized when the arms go down, don’t go around and never try to beat a train.
That includes the fast Brightline trains or even the slower freight trains.
“Please be patient, don’t be in a rush. When you come near a railroad track, look both ways. You know, we all have to get through this together,” Alfrey said
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