Train-truck crashes too familiar in this Gwinnett city

People in Norcross said the entire building shook when the train smashed through a truck.

The sights and sounds of a train crashing into a tractor-trailer Friday night in Gwinnett County were not new to people in that area.

Just over a year ago, a train hit a truck on the tracks a short distance away, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Friday’s incident was at Holcomb Bridge Road at Thrasher Street, and the November 2016 incident was at Holcomb Bridge Road and South Peachtree Street. These intersections are near downtown Norcross, and Friday’s crash came when many people were dining at nearby restaurants.

“I heard this thump, thump, thump and I knew it got somebody,” a worker at Dominick’s restaurant, who identified herself as Sharon, told Channel 2 Action News. “This is the worst I have ever seen.”

Though no injuries were reported, multiple cars in a parking lot were damaged, according to the station.

“On the side it just got dented, scratched up,” said Cachy Hoyos, whose car was damaged. “My mom said maybe the tire got punched out. We don’t know.”

Both crashes came despite the presence of signs in the area that say “no trucks.”

Police told Channel 2 that in most cases, truck drivers are not paying attention to the signs.

“When are they going to be able to read the signs where it says don’t go over the railroad tracks if you are a semitruck,” Sharon said. “There are signs everywhere.”

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This was the scene in November 2016 after a train crashed into a truck in Norcross. (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

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