BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (WHDH) - A close call in Bridgewater Friday morning after a railroad barrier came down on a school bus filled with children and a train speeding by moments later.
In a video you’ll see on Just One Station, you can see the dramatic moment when the safety arm came to rest on top of the school bus around 8 a.m. and seconds later the commuter rail flew by with its horn blaring at the Broad Street crossing.
The bus rested on the pavement and was not blocking the tracks, so no contact was made.
The bus driver, as required by law, stopped at the tracks when, seconds later, the warning bells went off, the safety arm went down and due to the traffic behind the bus, she could not back up.
Jonny Whynock captured the scary moment on video and said it was a scary few seconds watching it all unfold.
“My heart sunk to my stomach and I was worried that if there were people on the bus, besides just the driver and the children, this could be a very tragic event in the center of town today,” Whynock said. “I don’t know if the bus driver followed the normal protocols or if they were trying to beat the light, I don’t want to accuse anyone of doing anything wrong, but in a situation like that it seems like there should be a better protocol.”
Bill Lucini, the owner of Lucini Bus Lines, told 7NEWS in a written statement, “The bus driver acted appropriately… She did all the procedures by the book…”
School officials from the Williams School notified parents of the incident.
There were no reported injuries.
On just one station at 5 o'clock, a scary situation when a safety arm at a rail crossing ends up on the roof of a school bus in Bridgewater #7news pic.twitter.com/4gNA9e8unR
— Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) October 11, 2019
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)