Cedar Rapids woman drives car into moving train

A Cedar Rapids woman escaped injury Friday morning when she drove her car into the side of a moving train on the city's northeast side.

Melinda Bell, 29, was driving east on J Avenue near 12th Street NE about 8:50 a.m. when her foot became lodged beneath the brake pedal, which prevented her from stopping before she hit the side of the Iowa Northern Railroad train, according to police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin.

It was the Corridor's third train-vehicle crash in four days.

On Thursday, Dustin Tippie, 29, of North Liberty, and his passenger, Thomas Villhauer, 48, of Oxford, were injured when Tippie drove a Johnson County snowplow across tracks near Oxford, where it was struck by an Iowa Interstate Railroad train.

On Tuesday, Daniel Steward, 25, of Marion, and his passenger, Emily Dirks, 25, of Cedar Rapids, were injured in a similar accident near Tiffin when the pickup driven by Steward stopped on the tracks in front of an Iowa Interstate Railroad train.