Adams County authorities on Thursday identified the 57-year-old man who died earlier this week after driving a van in front of a speeding University of Colorado A-Line train.
Billy Ray Guinn, 57, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision near Chambers and Smith roads early Tuesday.
Aurora police on Thursday posted on YouTube video surveillance footage taken from two angles capturing the graphic collision. The recordings show the van appearing to stop beyond the crossing gates and then driving into the train’s path after the arms come down behind him.
“He remains idle for approximately 38 seconds and then drives directly into the path of the train,” police said in a news release.
The collision sent the van hurtling about a quarter-mile down the track. It wasn’t immediately known how fast the train was traveling at the time, but the train can reach speeds faster than 70 mph along some stretches.
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Investigators say they have focused their investigations into whether Guinn’s actions were intentional.
“When he sees the train he slowly rolled out in front of the train,” Aurora police spokesman Sgt. Chris Amsler said Tuesday. “We are investigating whether the collision was an intentional act.”
The A-Line train was heading east on the track when the red lights flashed and an alarm sounded, signaling the arrival of a train headed toward Denver International Airport, Amsler said.
In the video released Thursday, the crossing’s entrance gates can be seen coming down behind the van, well before the train enters the intersection and the collision happens.
“There are other angles that show the crossing’s exit gates, that also activated properly, by remaining open (to allow a vehicle that is inside the entrance gates to escape the intersection prior to the arrival of the train) and then the exit gates properly close,” the Regional Transportation District said in a news release.
“There is also a traffic signal near the exit gates that properly remains green after the entrance gates close, which lets the vehicle driver know they should get out of the intersection while the exit gates remain up.”
RTD said the distinction between the entrance gates versus the exit gates is very important “otherwise it will likely give the absolutely incorrect impression regarding the proper functioning of the gates at that intersection.”
Guinn was pronounced dead at the scene. Toxicology tests will be done to see whether he was intoxicated.
The crinkled front windshield of the van was wrapped around the crossing bar pole. Alarms at the crossing continued sounding at least five hours after the crash. Large chunks of plastic and metal were strewn along the tracks for hundreds of yards. The van was compressed to about 4-feet wide.
An off-duty police officer and a flagger from Rocky Mountain Flagging were working the intersection where the crash occurred. They were hired because of problems with the software controlling the safety gates the A-Line’s at-grade crossings from Denver Union Station to DIA.
RTD spokesman Scott Reed said the crossing gate timing issues had to do with the gates going down too early and staying down too long to meet their standards. Motorists were irritated by long waits. He said a software update was done to meet federal requirements.
