RURAL HARDIN COUNTY – An elderly Northern Iowa woman driver was killed Thursday morning when she failed to yield her Prius to an oncoming locomotive.
According to the Iowa State Patrol, the accident took place on Thursday, January 23, 2025. At 10:53 AM that morning, emergency responders were called to 290th Street in rural Hardin county, at a railroad crossing between E and F Avenues. A 2021 Toyota Prius operated by 71-year-old Kathaleen Houck of Radcliffe, Iowa, was eastbound on 290th Street when the driver failed to yield to a northbound train at the railroad crossing. The Patrol says the front of the train made contact with the rear passenger side of the Prius.
Asa result of the collision, Houck was taken by helicopter to Des Moines Methodist Hospital, but did not survive her injuries.
The crash remains under investigation.