Great Barrington — A lawyer for the Housatonic Railroad Company told The Edge Thursday (January 12) that state police had determined that the railroad was not responsible for the fatal April 2016 collision between its freight train and a car driven by local veterinarian Gary Cane.
HRR Associate General Counsel Matt Whitney said the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction section “so far…determined that the railroad did nothing wrong.”
He also said he was “not aware of any lawsuits against the company.”
Whitney further said he tried to get a copy of the state police report but was told sections required redactions, possibly of witness names, “to protect I don’t know who or from what.” He said he had asked for that redacted copy “months ago” and was told it wasn’t ready yet.
The Edge also requested the report and was also told it hadn’t been completed. A collision section staff member who did not want to be identified wrote in an email that such reports “can take a while.”
Just after the accident, police said they were baffled about how Cane’s SUV made it through or around the lowered gate and was hit at the crossing near the intersection of Route 23 and West Avenue, right in front of the Shopper’s Guide.
The accident happened around 1 p.m. as Cane, a South Egremont resident with a veterinary practice in Hillsdale, New York, was traveling west on Route 23 in a late model Jeep Liberty. The impact to the driver’s side caused the SUV to flip onto its roof.
According to the official Great Barrington Police statement, when police arrived at the scene, the crossing’s lights and arms were activated. “The vehicle apparently struck one of the arms at the crossing and a northbound, 14-car freight train…struck the vehicle.”
Cane, 75, was a popular veterinarian who ran a 24-hour emergency clinic at Hillsdale Animal Hospital.
