GASTONIA, N.C. — A 16-year-old girl is alive after she was able to escape her car before it was hit by a train in Gastonia on Wednesday.
Video of the crash shows a locomotive slamming into the four-door sedan at a high rate of speed on Bessemer City Road at Oates Road.
The driver, Marleigh Bailey, said she just got her license a week ago.
Bailey said the problem began after she turned at the crossing and got stuck on some gravel.
“God saved me,” she said. “If I wouldn’t have gotten out of the car, I would’ve been dead.”
Like many teen drivers, her immediate attention was on her car.
“When we got stuck, all I was saying was, ‘I can’t leave my car, she’s my car. I don’t have enough for another,’” Bailey said.
She said her friend told her to leave the car and she got out moments before the train collided with it.
“That was all I thought, was everything I worked for was just gone,” she said.
Bailey said two people stopped to help get her off the tracks, including a tow truck driver, but they weren’t able to move the car in time. She said she ran so fast her shoes came off, but fortunately, she is ok.
The teen said she is applying for jobs and is hoping she’ll get hired, so she can use the funds for a new car.
“I’m glad I got out, but it always hurts when you lose your first car,” Bailey said.
(WATCH BELOW: Collision between truck and train closes Old Mount Holly Road Tuesday morning)
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