Woman unhurt when train hits her SUV

A freight train hit an SUV at a crossing in Delaware today, but the motorist escaped injury as her vehicle spun around on impact and hit the car behind her, police said.

The driver, Carolyn Hunte, 48, of Bear, Del., was cited for failure to stop at a rail crossing, Delaware State Police said.

They said Hunte was driving a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe northbound on Route 71 in Bear about 6:40 a.m. when she started driving across the tracks even though the warning signals had been activated.

Thinking she would not make it time, Hunte tried to put her SUV in reverse but found her vehicle blocked by a Subaru Impreza, police said.

The eastbound Norfolk Southern locomotive hauling 12,000 tons freight, slammed into the Santa Fe, which then spun into the Impreza, whose 61-year-old female driver also was not hurt.

Although uninjured, Hunte was taken to Cristiana Hospital for observation, police said.

The highway was blocked for two hours until the train could be moved.