TIME ≈ 9:56 a.m.
LOCATION East Road crossing at Red Arrow Highway, Chikaming Township, Berrien County
By TruckCrash News Desk · Published August 18, 2026
Date & time: Tuesday, August 18, 2026, ≈ 9:56 a.m.
Location: East Road railroad crossing, 14000 block of Red Arrow Highway, Chikaming Township, Berrien County
Vehicles: Amtrak passenger train (Grand Rapids to Chicago) and one passenger car
Injuries: Driver of the car killed; no injuries reported among more than 200 train passengers and crew
Road impact: Crossing area closed during response; scene cleared after the vehicle fire was extinguished by about 2 p.m. Train delayed roughly two hours
Investigating agency: Chikaming Township Police Department
What Happened
A 72-year-old Lakeside man was killed Tuesday morning when an Amtrak train struck his car at the East Road railroad crossing off Red Arrow Highway in Chikaming Township, according to the Chikaming Township Police Department and reporting by The Herald-Palladium, WWMT, WNDU, and ABC57. Police identified the driver as Paul Rizzo, the vehicle’s sole occupant. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Our condolences go to Mr. Rizzo’s family and the Harbor Country community.
The crash was reported at approximately 9:56 a.m. in the 14000 block of Red Arrow Highway, where East Road crosses the tracks, The Herald-Palladium reported. According to police accounts cited by WNDU, the car was traveling west on East Road when it was struck by the train. The vehicle caught fire and was fully engulfed when responders arrived; fire crews from Chikaming Township, New Buffalo Township, and Berrien County responded and extinguished the blaze. The Herald-Palladium reported the fire was out and the crossing cleared by about 2 p.m.
The train — reported by The Herald-Palladium to be en route from Grand Rapids to Chicago with more than 200 passengers aboard — did not derail, and no injuries were reported among passengers or crew. WWMT reported 203 passengers and three crew members were on board and that the train was delayed approximately two hours. Outlets described the train’s direction differently — WWMT described it as westbound, while WNDU reported it was traveling south — descriptions police had not publicly reconciled.
Reporting: The Herald-Palladium, WWMT, WNDU, and ABC57, with information from the Chikaming Township Police Department.
The Investigation: What Happens Next
The Chikaming Township Police Department is investigating, and the department said no additional details were being released Tuesday. Investigations of train-vehicle collisions typically involve both local police and the railroad: Amtrak trains carry forward-facing cameras and event recorders that document speed, horn use, and braking, and the crossing’s signal equipment logs can show whether and when warning devices activated.
Police Chief Todd Taylor, in remarks reported by The Herald-Palladium, said the crossing’s warning lights were flashing at the time of the crash, and urged drivers to treat every crossing with caution: “Always slow down and check for the flashing lights. Do not try to outrun the train. It’s hard to determine how fast any train is going,” he said. Investigators have not released findings about why the vehicle was on the crossing when the train arrived, and the department said the crash remains under investigation.
The Legal Picture
How are railroad crossing crashes investigated? Crossing collisions draw on evidence most crashes don’t have — locomotive video, event-recorder data, and signal-system logs — which usually allows investigators to establish the sequence of events with unusual precision. The Federal Railroad Administration also tracks every crossing collision in a national database.
How does Michigan’s no-fault system apply? Michigan’s no-fault system provides certain statutory benefits to families after fatal traffic crashes, generally through the deceased person’s own auto insurer and regardless of fault. Our guide to Michigan no-fault insurance explains how those benefits are structured.
What determines the outcome of any claim? Official findings — from police, the railroad’s recorded data, and the medical examiner — control how insurers and courts view a crossing crash. Early reports are a starting point, not a conclusion; more on how serious-crash cases are evaluated is available in our settlements overview.
Nothing in this section is a comment on this specific crash. No official findings about cause have been released, and no assumptions should be made about anyone involved.
This Stretch of Road
Red Arrow Highway is the historic lakeshore route through southwest Berrien County’s Harbor Country, running parallel to I-94 and the Amtrak rail corridor through the resort communities of Lakeside, Union Pier, and Sawyer. The rail line that crosses East Road carries Amtrak service between Chicago and western Michigan, and trains move through the area at mainline speeds.
Short connector roads like East Road cross the tracks at grade as they link Red Arrow Highway with the neighborhoods and lake roads to the west. Because the rail corridor sits close alongside the highway, several of these crossings are just a car length or two from the Red Arrow intersection itself — a geometry that leaves little room between the highway and the tracks. Grade-crossing safety campaigns, including Michigan’s Operation Lifesaver program, focus on exactly these situations: never stopping on tracks, and never proceeding until the crossing ahead is fully clear.
If You Saw This Crash
The Chikaming Township Police Department is handling the investigation. Anyone who witnessed the crash or who was in the area of Red Arrow Highway and East Road on Tuesday morning — including anyone with dashcam footage — is encouraged to contact the department. Witness observations about the moments before a crossing collision can be important to investigators even when the railroad’s own recordings exist.
The Herald-Palladium: One dead in Amtrak train, car crash in Chikaming Township
WWMT: Police identify driver in deadly vehicle, train collision in Berrien County
WNDU: Driver killed after Amtrak train hits vehicle in Berrien County
ABC57: One dead after train/vehicle crash in Berrien County
About TruckCrash News
TruckCrash News reports daily on serious traffic crashes across Michigan, with a focus on collisions involving commercial vehicles. Our goal is accurate, sourced coverage of what happened, road impacts, and the investigations that follow.
This article is based on information from news outlets and public agencies available at the time of publication and may be updated as more is released. It is not legal advice, and nothing here should be read as a conclusion about fault or cause.