driver's vision

POLICE will try to reconstruct what a Garfield woman saw moments before her car crashed through a boom gate and collided with a train in Dandenong South last week.

Jillian McCormack, 53, was killed when a Cranbourne-bound train ploughed into her car at the Abbotts Road crossing on Tuesday morning.

Acting Sergeant Edwina Neale, who is investigating the accident, said it would take time to work out what happened.

"The car has basically driven straight through the boom gate in front of the train. The rail crossing was working properly, the train was not speeding and the lights were flashing and the boom gate was down."

She said police would use the force's new in-car video camera to film what Ms McCormack might have seen in her final moments.

"It won't be done until we get the same conditions at exactly the same time in the morning.

"We will try and replicate what the driver saw, as she was driving along, by way of a video camera mounted in a police vehicle."

Acting Sergeant Neale said theories being investigated included sun glare or distractions. "It doesn't appear she was on her mobile, but perhaps it rang in her handbag."

The accident threw traffic into chaos about 8am and affected 118 train services. A Connex spokeswoman said the rail controller was also investigating the accident.