LAPLACE – A train engine knocked off the bumper of a LaPlace man’s car Thursday, but no serious injury resulted. The driver was cited with failure to yield to a train.

Cpl. Donald Mince reported that Norwood Johnson Jr., 38, was southbound on Cardinal Street, just after noon, approaching the Kansas City Southern crossing.

He said he did not see the engine approaching as it backed northward and struck Johnson’s yellow 1982 Chevrolet El Camino.

“By the time I saw him, it was too late,” Johnson said.

Mince commented such accidents are almost always the fault of the driver.