Yet the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and Caltrain are recognizing two Sunnyvale public safety officers for saving this mystery man's life.

Lt. Phil Carr and Officer Russ Howard, both of Sunnyvale Fire Station No. 1, were returning to the station after responding to a call on the very rainy afternoon of Jan. 9, when they stopped at the corner of N. Mary Avenue and W. Evelyn Avenue. They watched a man drive his car about 50 feet toward the Caltrain tracks that run along W. Evelyn Avenue. And then they saw the car "high-center"—the undercarriage of the car landed directly on the tracks, leaving the wheels to spin above the ground.

Howard immediately began to block off traffic, diverting cars from the tracks. In the distance, Carr could see a train approaching. So he ran to the car to help the man inside.

He yelled to the man to get out of the car, but according to Carr, the man did not respond.

"I just opened the door and pulled him out," Carr says.

"As we moved away, we saw the train hit the car," Carr said. The train crashed into the driver's side of the car about 10 seconds after Carr pulled the man away from the vehicle, dragging the car about 200 feet along the railroad tracks.

The two officers helped the man into the police car.

"If not for the heroic efforts of Carr and Howard, the man would have been struck and killed," said Jayme Maltbie, public information officer for Caltrain.

Carr said the man might have had tunnel vision, which can render an individual unaware of impending or existing danger. "I don't think he realized there was a train coming until the last second," said Carr.

The officers took the man to a nearby gas station after the incident. But because there was no personal injury involved, they handed the investigation over to Caltrain without getting the man's name.

Caltrain recorded only the damage to the car.

According to Carr, train-auto collisions occur about twice a year in Sunnyvale. He has witnessed only one other collision in his career.

Carr received a written commendation from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, and next month the Caltrain Joint Powers Board will honor both Carr and Howard with commendations. Carr will retire in April after almost 30 years of service.