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Video shows Lodi school bus dangerously close to freight train

Lodi Unified School District investigates close call

Video shows Lodi school bus dangerously close to freight train

Lodi Unified School District investigates close call

DISTRICT’S RESPONSE. >> HEART POUNDING MOMENTS CAUGHT ON CELL PHONE VIDEO. A LODI SCHOOL BUS STUCK UNDERNEATH THE CROSSING ARM. >> WOW. REPORTER: AS A TRAIN COMES WHIZZING BY. >> VERY CLOSE. REPORTER: JUSTIN CLUB CAPTURED THIS JUST MINUTES AFTER DROPPING OFF HIS DAUGHTER AT SCHOOL. >> I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO HIT ME, TOO. REPORTER: THIS HAPPENED JUST BEFORE 8 P.M. THE MORNING. LODI UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CONFIRMED THERE WAS ONE STUDENT ON THE BUS AT THE TIME. >> THEY WERE TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT. REPORTER: CLUB EMERGED TO NEXT TO THE BUS AS THEY APPROACHED THE RAILROAD CROSSING. >> THE DRIVER SHUT HIS DOORS AND WENT TO GO FORWARD, SAW THE SITUATION, AND REVERSED. THEY SHOULD HAVE NOTICED THE TRAIN RIGHT THEN AND THERE. REPORTER: HE SAID THE BUS DRIVER TRIED TO REVERSE, BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. >> THEY WERE WAY OVER THE LINE. REPORTER: AFTER TENSE MOMENTS, THE TRAIN PASSES AND THE GUARD RAIL RAISES. THE STUDENT WAS NOT HURT, ACCORDING TO THE DISTRICT. >> I’M JUST GRATEFUL TO BE HOME WITH MY KIDS. REPORTER: ACCORDING TO THE DISTRICT, BUS DRIVERS RENEW THEIR LICENSES EVERY FIVE YEARS. IT REQUIRES KNOWING THE CALIFORNIA CODE THAT REQUIRES BUS DRIVERS TO STOP 15 FEET FROM THE TRACK AND ONLY CONTINUE ONCE IT IS SAFE. CLUB HOPES THIS IS A WAKE-UP CALL. TO REVIEW SAFETY PROTOCOLS. >> ANY PARENT IN TOWN IS GOING TO BE CONCERNED. ANY PARENT WANTS TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THEIR KIDS, WHO IS DRIVING THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL, AND THEY WANT TO HAVE THE COMFORT OF HAVING THAT SAFETY. REPORTER THIS IS ALL PART OF AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION ACCORDING TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. THEY SAY THE BUS DRIVER WHO CROSSED OVER THESE TRACKS IS JUST A SCHOOL EMPLOYEE, NOT A SUBSTITUTE DRIVER. THEY DO NOT COM
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Video shows Lodi school bus dangerously close to freight train

Lodi Unified School District investigates close call

The Lodi Unified School District said it is investigating after a post on social media shows a school bus come dangerously close to getting hit by a freight train.The bus was at a railroad crossing on Lodi Avenue around 8 a.m. Monday when the crossing arm came down on top of the bus.Video shared by Justin Clubb shows the freight train speed by, inches away from the school bus. He recorded the cell phone video just minutes after dropping off his daughter at school. “They were way over the line at first. And then, the sign started flashing and they went to pull forward and I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ And I pulled out my phone real quick,” Clubb said. “Then the sign started dropping on top and they backed up, but they didn’t even try and really actually back up out of the way.”Clubb was initially driving behind the bus and then merged into the lane next to it as they approached the railroad crossing. “When I pulled up, the driver had the door open, was looking both ways and then shut his doors and went to go forward," Clubb said. "(I) saw the situation and reversed out of the way and then the train came by.”Clubb was worried the train was going to hit the bus and him, so he reversed his pickup truck to stay out of the way. He said as the bus tried to back up, the railroad crossing arms came down on top of it.“I’m just thankful to be home with my kids,” Clubb said.School district officials said one student and the school bus driver were on the bus at the time. No one was injured during the incident.“We cannot comment on personnel matters and it’s still an investigation,” said Chelsea Vongehr, spokesperson for the Lodi Unified School District.Vongehr said the school bus driver is a school district employee. She also said district bus drivers renew their licenses every five years. She said part of testing for renewals is knowing the California vehicle code requiring school bus drivers stop at least 15 feet from the tracks, listening and looking in both directions and only continuing on once it is safe.Clubb hopes this incident is a wake-up call for the bus driver to review safety protocols.“Any parent in this town is going to be concerned," Clubb said. "That’s why this video went so viral like it did. Because any parent wants to know what’s going on with their kids, who’s driving their kids to school and they want to have the comfort of having that safety."

The Lodi Unified School District said it is investigating after a post on social media shows a school bus come dangerously close to getting hit by a freight train.

The bus was at a railroad crossing on Lodi Avenue around 8 a.m. Monday when the crossing arm came down on top of the bus.

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Video shared by Justin Clubb shows the freight train speed by, inches away from the school bus. He recorded the cell phone video just minutes after dropping off his daughter at school.

“They were way over the line at first. And then, the sign started flashing and they went to pull forward and I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ And I pulled out my phone real quick,” Clubb said. “Then the sign started dropping on top and they backed up, but they didn’t even try and really actually back up out of the way.”

Clubb was initially driving behind the bus and then merged into the lane next to it as they approached the railroad crossing.

“When I pulled up, the driver had the door open, was looking both ways and then shut his doors and went to go forward," Clubb said. "(I) saw the situation and reversed out of the way and then the train came by.”

Clubb was worried the train was going to hit the bus and him, so he reversed his pickup truck to stay out of the way. He said as the bus tried to back up, the railroad crossing arms came down on top of it.

“I’m just thankful to be home with my kids,” Clubb said.

School district officials said one student and the school bus driver were on the bus at the time. No one was injured during the incident.

“We cannot comment on personnel matters and it’s still an investigation,” said Chelsea Vongehr, spokesperson for the Lodi Unified School District.

Vongehr said the school bus driver is a school district employee. She also said district bus drivers renew their licenses every five years. She said part of testing for renewals is knowing the California vehicle code requiring school bus drivers stop at least 15 feet from the tracks, listening and looking in both directions and only continuing on once it is safe.

Clubb hopes this incident is a wake-up call for the bus driver to review safety protocols.

“Any parent in this town is going to be concerned," Clubb said. "That’s why this video went so viral like it did. Because any parent wants to know what’s going on with their kids, who’s driving their kids to school and they want to have the comfort of having that safety."