On Saturday, the 28-year-old and her boyfriend traveled from Miami to West Palm Beach on the high-speed passenger train, planning to spend the day at the Norton Museum of Art. Although Breiter had never really been interested in taking the train before (she says she prefers to be in control of her schedule), her boyfriend convinced her to give it a try that day.
So, when the Brightline train crashed about ten minutes away from the West Palm Beach station and ultimately spoiled their plans, Breiter felt... slightly vindicated.
"Like I said before, the reason why I don't really advocate for the Brightline is because I can't control the time," Breiter tells New Times. "And this showed exactly the reason why I'm scared of trains or anything like that."
Breiter was seated in the second passenger car of the Brightline train that violently collided with a Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck in downtown Delray Beach on Saturday morning, injuring three firefighters and more than a dozen passengers aboard the train. The crash took place after the fire truck reportedly stopped at the crossing and waited for a freight train to go by before then driving around the lowered crossing arms.
Breiter shared photos with New Times showing the mangled front of the Brightline train, with its windshield shattered and front severely indented.
Brightline, which has been dubbed the deadliest train per mile in America by the Associated Press and has killed dozens of people across South Florida in the years since its 2018 debut, released a video showing the moments before the crash.
"For everyone's safety, never drive around crossing gates when they are down," the company wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A spokesperson for Delray Beach tells New Times that the firefighters remained hospitalized in stable condition as of Monday (December 30), and that the Delray Beach Police Department, Brightline, and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating the incident.From the Brightline Safety and Security Team: Railroad safety is a community wide effort. For everyone’s safety, never drive around crossing gates when they are down. pic.twitter.com/6TSeHHOuyq
— Brightline (@GoBrightline) December 29, 2024
The spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a question about the fire department's protocol for stopping at railroad crossings while responding to an emergency.
While Breiter and her boyfriend thankfully walked away from the incident unscathed, she says passengers in the front car described luggage flying off the shelves and people being flung from their seats following the crash.
One passenger told her that a suitcase hit an 80-year-old woman in the head, she says.
"They're like, 'My god, it felt like [the car] was gonna turn over. I thought I was gonna die," Breiter recalls the passengers telling her.
Meanwhile, Breiter recalled passengers seated alongside her crying and others frantically making phone calls. One man, who said he had his gallbladder removed the day before, yelled in pain. Several families who were wearing matching "Disney 2024" shirts appeared extremely bummed.
Amid all the chaos, Brightline officials made passengers pull their blinds down, Breiter says.
"We're all thinking the worst, like, Oh my God, what did we hit? Was there somebody there? What's going on?" she recalls.
Breiter explained how she and other passengers felt left in the dark (literally) by Brightline for nearly two hours after the crash while they waited for the company to provide them with answers.
She says Brightline officials told the passengers they couldn't leave the train on foot, citing a federal law that prohibits people from walking on train tracks. The officials also turned off the air conditioning on the train, Breiter says, while passengers grew increasingly uncomfortable.
When Brightline officials finally stepped aboard the train and told passengers what was going on (about an hour and a half after the crash, Breiter says), they explained that a rescue train was coming to bring them to the West Palm Beach Station.
Once they arrived at the station, however, she says there was no Brightline representative there to greet them.
"It almost felt like nobody knew," Breiter says. "There was nobody from the Brightline to be like, 'Hey, oh my god, are you guys the ones that were just on that train? Is everyone okay?'"
Brightline did not immediately respond to New Times' request for comment.
Although Breiter never made it to the museum that day, her plans weren't entirely derailed.
She returned to Miami that evening on time for her planned trip to Zoo Lights with her boyfriend, who proposed to her.
"People are like, 'Oh my God, tell me all about it! And I'm like, what? The train hitting the fire truck or my fiancé proposing?'" she laughs. "Because, I mean, one was a lot freakier than the other."
And in terms of her ever riding the train again?
"I don't think I'm gonna ever take the Brightline again," Breiter says. "Simply because I'm clearly not in control of my own timing. And then I guess you can hit a fire truck every once in a while."
