It was late, about 10:15 p.m., when Janice Esposito arrived at the Bellport, New York, train station, jumped into her Honda Odyssey and began the 20 minute drive home to her husband and sever-year-old son. She'd just returned from visiting her mother and had traveled the route so many times. She practically drove on autopilot: a left onto Station Road, then a left on Montauk Highway, and then - wham! Out of nowhere on that awful night, a car T-boned Esposito's minivan, forcing her backward some 100 feet onto the railroad tracks. She sat in the minivan, bruised (淤伤的) but mostly just stunned by the impact and by the vehicle's airbags.
As it happens, Pete DiPinto was getting ready for bed. He'd just closed his book and was crawling under the covers when he heard the high-pitched clang of metal on metal and shattering glass coming from not far outside his bedroom window. A volunteer firefighter and retired teacher, DiPinto, 64, never stopped to think. He grabbed a flashlight and, still dressed in his pajamas, ran out of the door. The first car he came upon, 2,000 feet from his front yard, was the one that had hit Esposito. Once DiPinto concluded the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Esposito's minivan straddling (横跨) the railroad tracks.
And then he heard an upsetting sound: the bells signaling an oncoming train. "Honey, you're on the railroad tracks," DiPinto shouted to Esposito, "We have to get you off right now!" He yanked on the handle, but the door was smashed in and jammed shut. The heavy diesel (柴油) train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was hurting toward them. Dipinto ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. He pushed aside the flat airbags, grabbed Esposico's arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he could help her out and rapidly walk her to safety behind a signal box a few feet away. Within six seconds, he estimates, the train ploughed into the minivan.
