Police officer drags driver to safety moments before vehicle is struck by train

'If it had not been for the deputies being at the right place at the right time, the driver would have been significantly injured'

(Karin Lizana)

Seemingly remaining despite a huge train barrelling down towards him, a sheriff's deputy heaves a man from his car and drags him to safety, with just seconds to spare before the train destroyed everything in its path.

The incident occurred in Northern California, with the train striking the vehicle that was parked on the tracks, forcing the the commuter line to be shut down in both directions. According to Caltrain, while the video only shows one train hitting the vehicle, two separate trains actually hit the parked car on Monday evening at the Mary Avenue crossing.

Video shot by Karin Lizana shows an officer pulling a driver out of a car that appears to be stuck on the tracks. As the pair run across the tracks to safety, the driver loses his footing and falls down. The officer then drags the man by his arm out of harm's way just in time.

Deputies Lance Whitted and Erik Rueppel were given credit for saving the man's life. Reports on social media suggested the driver had been drinking but this has not been confirmed.

"If it had not been for the deputies being at the right place at the right time, the driver would have been significantly injured," San Mateo County Sheriff's spokesman Salvador Zuno said.

Zuno said the deputies were conducting enforcement in the area when they heard a collision and noticed that a car had hit the corssing guard.

Zuno said deputies Lance Whitted and Erik Rueppel were conducting enforcement in the area when they heard what sounded like a traffic collision. The deputies, who were just a few cars away, saw a vehicle had collided into the crossing guard.

When they went to investigate, they noticed a train was approaching the vehicle. One removed the driver from the car while the other ran on to the tracks to notify the oncoming train.