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Review of video taken from cameras installed at a South Salt Lake TRAX station show all crossing signals and barriers were working properly before a young woman walked into the path of an arriving light rail train on Monday.
Utah Transit Authority spokesman Gerry Carpenter also said Tuesday that while the video seemed to show that the woman's head was down a moment before she was struck and killed by the train near 3900 South and 200 West in South Salt Lake, the clarity of the footage was insufficient to verify reports that she was using a cell phone or texting at the time of the accident.
"She doesn't appear to hesitate crossing" despite the blaring of the train's horn or activated safety signals, Carpenter said. "We are considering it a case of distraction and that contributed to the accident, but as to the exact nature of that distraction we have not determined that at this point."
South Salt Lake police spokesman Gary Keller confirmed UTA's assessment, saying that the woman — identified as 26 year-old Miriam Contreras-Rivera of West Valley City — "definitely was distracted." Investigators would continue to interview witnesses to learn more details, he added.
The video also confirmed that the woman came from the area of a Salt Lake Community College branch campus just west of the TRAX stop and was moving toward the station parking lot when she was hit. The woman was trapped underneath the train, extricated by rescue workers and then pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.