In 2015, a deadly train collision occurred at the Valhalla Crossing in New York. The passenger train had failed to brake in time after an SUV drove onto the tracks resulting in the deaths of six people. But it’s what happened before the collision which baffled investigators. The woman driving the SUV, Ellen Brody, had been driving to a business meeting in the area although the local area was unfamiliar to her. While trying to navigate backed-up traffic, Brody found herself on the wrong side of a level crossing barrier. She had misjudged how close she was to the tracks and when the barrier suddenly came down it bumped the back of her car, while she wasn’t on the tracks themselves, she was pretty close. The vehicle behind Brody’s was driven by a man named Rick Hope. Hope saw Ellen’s predicament and backed up his own car in order to allow her to do the same. This would have likely scratched her car a bit as well as broken the barrier but it was the logical thing to do. However, what Ellen Brody did next was both perplexing and dangerous. Brody drove forwards After calmly getting out of the car and examining the barrier that had hit her car from behind, Ellen got back into the SUV and allegedly proceeded to drive forwards, onto the tracks, instead of back into the space created by Hope. This decision would cost Ellen her life and led to a deadly train crash that took the lives of five others on board. Unfortunately for Brody, there was already a train coming down the tracks and it was coming too fast for her to be able to get out of the way. The train drive initially sounded the horn before applying the brakes and by the time the train struck Ellen’s SUV, it was moving at 50mph. The car was violently pushed down the track with the collision causing damage to the third rail and knocking it upwards. The rail pierced the tank of Ellen’s SUV, catching fire before piercing the first two carriages of the train. An investigation into the accident A subsequent investigation into the incident could find no explanation for Brody’s lack of urgency and baffling decision to drive forwards. Had she not gotten out of the car to check the damage and instead driven forward as quickly as possible she would have been fine, and of course, had she simply reversed she would have also survived. Ellen Brody had slept well the night before and was not drunk, she was typically a responsible driver, and yet, at that moment, it seems she made a monumental error. There were theories that, as the car was a relatively new purchase, she had mistakenly put the car in drive when she meant reverse. Others suggested the peculiar layout of the crossing might have led Ellen to believe she was already over the rails and on the other side. The train driver, Steven Smalls was questioned but ultimately ruled out as being responsible for the accident. A majority of the blame was placed on the train company, Metro North, for the lack of training given to drivers. Had Smalls been instructed to brake first then sound the horn, it could have avoided the accident, but Metro North had apparently told him to do the opposite.