11:19 AM CST on Saturday, December 27, 2003

From 11 News Staff Reports

Metro’s light rail is set to start taking passengers in one week, but Saturday morning Metro was fixing damage from yet another accident.

A man in a Suburban was driving down Fannin near the medical center Friday when he crashed into the crossing arms.

No one was hurt, but the windshield of the SUV was crushed. The driver says he didn’t see any warning that the arms were coming down.

That was the fifth accident since Metro began testing its rail cars.

Metro says drivers simply are not paying attention to the warning signs.

Surveillance video shows one driver who made an illegal turn, right into the path of a train.

So far Metro has issued more than 2,300 citations.

Notes:

You can ride light rail for free from January 1st through the 4th.

On New Year’s Day trains will run until 5:30 in the evening. The other days they’ll run from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Once the free rides end, it will cost $1, the same fee charged to take a bus.