No Charges for Woman Who Drove Her SUV Onto Seattle Light Rail Tracks

In Seattle on Tuesday evening, a 70-year-old woman followed her GPS instructions directly onto the light rail tracks of the 1 Line and drove a quarter mile along the rails.

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She even somehow made it all the way up to the elevated section at Mount Baker Station, and then got out of her red Mazda SUV with cameras rolling.

Watch the video below. It starts at 11 seconds in.

How the SUV Ended Up on Tracks at Mount Baker Station

The crazy part to me is that there are no charges. Not even a ticket. Just a two-hour light rail shutdown, no big deal.

Police say the driver was not intoxicated and was following her GPS. Somehow, the combination of a confusing intersection, trust in navigation technology, and maybe reduced visibility caused her to drive her SUV straddling two light rail tracks southeast of downtown Seattle.

Footage shows the red Mazda struggling to move along the rails, not designed for Mazda SUVs, before stopping at the elevated Mount Baker Station section.

Removing the SUV Was No Small Operation

Sound Transit shut down the 1 Line service for two hours on Tuesday evening while emergency crews first cut power to the electrified tracks, before bringing in a swing loader to lift the SUV out using special straps.

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Seattle Police confirmed the driver was not impaired and will face no criminal charges. Washington law apparently does not have a clean statute covering the specific offense of driving a Mazda onto an active light rail line while following GPS directions.

She was taken to the hospital, reportedly for a medical evaluation.

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