Detroit Lakes High School girls' basketball coach Mike Hoganson can consider himself a lucky man.
He narrowly avoided death or serious injury Saturday in a car-train accident when a Canadian Pacific Soo Line train smashed into the back end of his 2003 Ford Taurus at a crossing on 130th Street near Abbey Lake Road south of Detroit Lakes.
"It definitely was scary," Hoganson said.
The accident took place at exactly 4:38 p.m., a time Hoganson remember from glancing at his clock right before the accident.
He was headed to Wahpeton at the time to scout another girls' basketball team.
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Hoganson said that when he was at the intersection, he realized he had forgotten his cell phone. With a cold night ahead, he decided to head back home to retrieve it.
On a slippery hill, described as glaze ice, Hoganson's car started slipping when the train came.
"I had thoughts of just turning off into the ditch, but it kept on going (towards the tracks)," Hoganson said.
Fortunately for him, the front part of the car crossed the tracks before the train took out the back end and the back seat of his car. The Taurus ended up going forward into a ditch instead of back to the train.
"It spun me around," Hoganson said.
Hoganson suffered minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital.
The car was totaled.
Hoganson, married and a father of three, was happy to see his family again that evening.
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"It definitely puts things into perspective," he said.
Becker County Sheriff's Investigator Kathy Ngyuen joked that Hoganson should have bought lottery tickets that day because it was the luckiest day of his life.
"A couple of angels must have been watching over me," Hoganson said.
