A man was ejected from his SUV after a head-on collision with a SEPTA train in Philadelphia’s Parkside neighborhood early Friday morning, police said.
The accident happened around 1:30 a.m. at North 51st Street and Lancaster Avenue.
Police said a 32-year-old man driving a 2014 GMC Arcadia was traveling westbound on Lancaster Avenue at a high rate of speed when he suddenly crossed into the eastbound lane and hit the trolley head-on.
The impact was so severe that the tram came off the tracks.
When police and paramedics arrived, they found the driver unconscious on the ground next to the vehicle.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said: “The impact caused the GMC SUV to spin 180 degrees and come to rest on the pavement, at which point the 32-year-old driver was ejected and found on the pavement next to the vehicle. That’s where he was pronounced dead.”
The front portion of the driver’s side of the SUV was ripped away during the crash, exposing the entire front seat area.
Small said the victim suffered severe head trauma. His identity has not been released.
Action News was on scene as a tow truck driver loaded the damaged vehicle onto a flatbed truck.
The SEPTA driver was not injured despite sitting near the front of the streetcar, police said.
There were four passengers on the tram at the time of the accident.
Two of them were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for pain, officials said.
SEPTA has not said how long service along Route 10 on the T1 trolley line may be affected.
The cameras on these trams were just activated this week to issue tickets to drivers blocking the tracks, so police may look at the footage to investigate.
