It was about 10:15 p. m. Janice Esposito got off the train at the Bellport, New York, got into her car and began driving home. She had traveled the route so many times that she almost drove automatically: a left onto Station Road, then a left on Montauk Highway, and then—bang! Out of nowhere a car crashed into Esposito's car, pushing her backward some 100 feet onto the railroad tracks. Injured but mostly shocked by the crash and by the airbags that popped up, she got stuck in the vehicle.
As it happened, Pete DiPinto was getting ready for bed when he heard the crash coming from not far outside his bedroom window. DiPinto, a volunteer firefighter, 64, never stopped to think. He grabbed a flashlight and rushed out.
The first car he came upon, 2, 000 feet from his front yard, was the one that had hit Esposito. Once making sure the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Esposito's car straddling (跨坐) the railroad tracks. And then he heard a bell sound, which signalled a coming train.
DiPinto rushed to Esposito's car and hit on the driver's side window. She just looked at him. "I don't know where I am," she said.
"You're on the railroad tracks," DiPinto yelled. "We have to get you off right now!" The train was traveling at a speed of 65 miles per hour toward them. The driver's door couldn't be opened due to the crash, so DiPinto ran to the passenger side. He threw open the door, pushed aside the airbags, seized Esposito's arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he finally got her out and walked her to safety as quickly as he could.
Within seconds, the train crashed into the car. "It was like a Hollywood movie," DiPinto told reporters the next day.
"Last night," said Greg Miglino Chief of the South County Ambulance, "the hero arrived in pajamas (睡衣), not in a fire truck. "
