By Sam Stanton
sstanton@ascbee.com
A woman driving in Folsom with her two young daughters drifted onto light rail tracks after falling asleep at the wheel earlier tonight, but the family was saved by passersby who pulled them from the vehicle minutes before a a train smashed into the car, police said.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred just after 7 p.m. near the Iron Point light rail station, Folsom police Lt. Perry Albers said.
The woman was driving a 2007 Honda Civic northbound on Folsom Boulevard with her daughters, ages 10 and 7, when she fell asleep and the car drove through a ditch and onto the railroad tracks, where it came to a stop, Albers said.
Witnesses stopped and rushed to the car, helping the family of three get out of the vehicle. Two minutes later, a Regional Transit light-rail train with one operator and four passengers smashed into the car and demolished the passenger side, Albers said.
The wreck slightly damaged the train, but it was able to continue after the tracks were cleared of debris.
Albers said no one in the car or on the train was hurt.
"Not a scratch," he said. "It could have been a whole different outcome."
Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.
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