Saturday, April 16, 2011

Car thief cheats death at rail crossing

Police have released footage of Terence Fowler, 20, ploughing through a railway level crossing moments before a train roared by. Police in Peterborough had been pursuing the red Mercedes driven by Fowler after an automatic number plate recognition camera alerted officers to it being stolen, last June.

Fowler reached speeds of over 96 mph during the chase, squeezing between opposing vehicles and clipping wing mirrors as he tried to evade police. Curiously, as he approached a roadside speed camera at more than 90 mph he veered into the other lane to avoid triggering the flash mechanism.


YouTube link.

The driver then overtook a stationary line of cars waiting at a lowered rail level crossing and accelerated through both barriers. The damaged red and white barriers were strewn across the intersection as the car disappeared from view.

Moments later a train roars through the crossing, flinging one of the smashed barriers into the police car. Fowler was jailed for three-and-a-half years for a number of offences including dangerous driving.

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