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School bus driver fired after near miss with train

A Texas driver drove over railroad tracks and stopped at a stop sign, but was still too close to the tracks, and a train just missed hitting the bus. She was fired for not following standard rail crossing procedures.

February 22, 2016
2 min to read


HOUSTON — A school bus driver was fired after a video was released showing that the bus she was driving barely missed being hit by an oncoming train.

Klein Independent School District released a video of the Feb. 10 incident one day after a YouTube video taken by one of the students aboard the bus surfaced online, according to KHOU. The driver crossed the tracks and stopped at a stop sign. The district told KPRC that the bus was still too close to the tracks, which is why the train came so close to hitting it. No students were hurt in the incident, but a student who was riding the bus at the time told KPRC that the driver moved off the tracks at the last second.

The district said in a statement obtained by KPRC that after the incident, when the driver returned the bus to the school, she said that the students were being too loud for her to drive the bus safely. The statement also said that the driver was initially suspended while the incident was investigated, and was then fired when the investigation revealed that she did not follow standard rail crossing procedures. According to standard procedure, bus drivers are required to stop at least 15 feet from the track, open the door, and look and listen.

The daughter of the bus driver contacted KPRC and said that her mother has been a dedicated bus driver for 20 years, despite being bullied by students, and that the students were out of control at the time of the incident, the news source reports. She added that her mother was not fired, but that she chose to resign, and has the support of many other bus drivers.

Watch video of the incident obtained by ABC below.

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