Driver killed when truck gets stuck on train crossing, freight train cannot stop in time

Published 4:47 pm Tuesday, September 19, 2023

An Alabama man was killed Tuesday morning when his tractor-trailer truck became stuck on a railroad crossing and was subsequently struck by a freight train, state troopers report.

The crash involving a commercial vehicle and a train occurred at approximately 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, and claimed the life of an Opelika, Alabama, man.

Yancey C. Stephens, 54, was fatally injured when the 2016 Mack tractor-trailer he was driving got stuck at the railroad crossing and was struck by the CSX freight train.

Stephens was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The crash occurred at the railroad crossing on Lee County 61 near Alabama 14, approximately 5 miles west of Auburn, in Lee County.