School bus hit by railroad crossing arm as train nears in Washington, video shows
A school bus driver in Washington is being investigated after video showed a railroad crossing arm hit the bus, before the driver ultimately moved the bus off the tracks.
An Elma School District bus was involved in the incident, which happened Tuesday at the point where the tracks cross 11th Street in the small town west of Olympia, according to a statement from the school system on Wednesday.
The red lights that warn of approaching trains were flashing in the video. The crossing arm that had been atop the bus swung to its down position as the bus drove off.
“Pretty scary, train passed not long after,” wrote Facebook user Owen Swartz, who posted the video Tuesday. Swartz added that “the bus was stopped on the tracks when the arms came down. I just happened to be behind and took a video when I saw it happen.”
Elma police have been asked to investigate, according to the district.
“The bus driver has been removed from driving responsibilities until the investigation is complete, at which time the transportation supervisor will take any appropriate personnel action,” the district’s statement said. “We will take every necessary step to prevent this from happening in the future. We will share the results of the investigation once it is complete.”
The video, which is posted below and contains some profanity, has been viewed more than 19,000 times on Facebook.
“There certainly is difficulty in seeing up the tracks, but I’m not going to get in the details of it until we’re done with the investigation,” said Elma School District Superintendent Kevin Acuff, who added that the woman involved was transporting elementary students that morning and is a bus driver of 37 years, according to KIRO.
The written message that accompanied the video originally said a “train passed like 5-10 seconds after” but was later edited to say “train passed not long after,” according to KXRO.
“It was determined that she did stop and was clearing the tracks before proceeding over them,” said Elma Police Chief Susan Shultz, according to KIRO. “You don’t actually know what’s going on until you see all aspects of it, so that’s what the police department is doing right now, is try to get a look at all sides, including the bus driver’s.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 7:33 PM with the headline "School bus hit by railroad crossing arm as train nears in Washington, video shows."