A collision between a train and a dump truck Monday near Crescent, Iowa serves as a reminder for drivers to be extra careful at railroad crossings.

The collision happened where Joslin Avenue crosses the Union Pacific tracks southwest of Crescent. The crossing is marked with flashing lights, but not crossing arms. It is also a common route for gravel trucks in the area.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says drivers should not only look for trains at crossings, but should listen as well.

"If you have your stereo loud or there's other things happening in your vehicle, if you have a loud vehicle, for example with a truck like that, it's possible that louder machinery, something like that, you don't hear the horn."

Complacency can also be a problem at railroad crossings. "If you go across an intersection a number of times there's not a lot of train traffic there, you get lulled into a false sense of security where you think that this train probably isn't going to be there," says Sheriff Danker.

"It just gets to be routine and that's just about the time a train will be coming and you're not prepared for it."

Trying to beat a train could be the last thing you ever do. Not only is it tough to judge the speed of a train, but your car could stall. "Trying to beat a train across the tracks like that can end up with tragedy.”

Sheriff Danker says the train was traveling about 40 mph when it struck the gravel truck. He says the driver is expected to survive.