WARREN (AP) – The narrow escape of a father and son from Massachusetts whose ATV was struck by an oncoming train points up the need for off-road vehicle operators to steer clear of railroad tracks, railroad officials said.

Lyle Morris, 42, of Woburn, Mass., and his son Luke, 14, escaped injury Saturday when they leaped about 15 feet from a railroad bridge after their all-terrain vehicle got stuck on the track and an excursion train was bearing down at 45 mph.

“The seriousness of this accident can’t be overemphasized,” said Jon Shute, general manager of Maine Eastern Railroad. The ATV “came free when we hit it,” said Shute, noting that the train could have derailed if the ATV had remained stuck on the track.

Instead, the vehicle went flying, landing 120 feet away.

None of the train’s 60 passengers or three crew members were injured.

Lyle Morris was charged with a civil violation of operating his vehicle on railroad tracks, the Knox County Sheriff’s Department said.

The ATV was totaled in the crash. Damage to the train totaled more than $10,000.