Parents of young driver speak out against dangerous train crossing

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The parents of a young driver involved in last week's train accident are petitioning the city to make the railroad crossing safer.

High school student and wrestler Lyndon Herwig was driving to practice with his coach when tragedy struck.

Lyndon says he couldn't see the train coming until it was too late. He tried to brake, but his car slid from the snow and ice into the train's path.

"You first get the phone call and you hear train...My heart dropped," said Lyndon's mother Charlie Herwig.

The car was pushed over 400 feet, but both passengers survived. Lyndon's parents rushed to the scene.

"Just looking at the scene, it was pretty scary to see the damage to the vehicle and how severe that was. Not really knowing the condition of your son," said Charlie. "The paramedics came up to us saying, 'hey, he's okay, but I just want you to know, this was a miracle. '"

Lyndon went in for x-rays and an MRI, the results showed how lucky he had been.

"They came and told us that he broke his spine in three places. This wasn't just any fracture...this was a v fracture. And this is the worst fracture to have...If he had one more up that he would have been paralyzed," said Charlie.

Lyndon had been his family's rock, caring for his younger siblings as his mother recovered from her own back conditions. Now the family prays for his recovery.

"The same day of the accident Charlie had a back procedure and she has four coming back procedures and so she hasn't been able to lift babies and do things," said Lyndon's father Jacob Davis. "Lyndon has been my big helper. Now. Lyndon is out of commission."

Now Jacob takes off work to help care for his wife and injured son. The Family has organized a gofundme page to help support themselves during Lyndon's recovery.

They say, despite the way the story has been spun, this isn't a tale of a reckless teenage driver.

"You can't see very well at all the there's trees on the left-hand side and then a white fence which is which the side he came from...It could happen to anybody. But regardless, I don't think this would have happened if there were more like safety parameters in place," said Davis.

Since the accident nearly 100 people including former Iona police officers have approached the family, petitioning the city to add stop signs and railroad crossing arms at the intersection.

"You have to think of these like railroad crossings and things as investments and then the return on your investments as people's lives...And if it's you're the one deciding on the budget, think if it's your kid. Your kid's life is the return on that investment. And if it's your kid's life, you're going to say it's worth every single railroad crossing in town," said Davis.