Why do school buses open their doors at railway crossings?
**Secret Revealed**
Although it was required by law for school bus drivers to stop at railway crossings in 1938, drivers were not required to open their door.
On December 1st of that year a gruesome accident changed that. It was a blizzard in Salt Lake City, Utah and a school bus driver stopped his bus at a railway crossing. Because of the snow, the visibility was terrible and the driver was not able to see an approaching freight train.
24 of the 40 passengers died, including the driver. According to surviving passengers, the train was broadsided without notice. Although the driver was familiar with the train schedule, the weather had delayed the train which should have passed two hours earlier. To make matters worse, it was travelling faster than normal to make up for lost time.
Unfortunately, the same crossing saw accidents in 1995, 1997 and 2002 but it is now closed.
The snow ultimately led to the horrific crash in 1938, but investigators wanted to know if any precautions could have prevented it. Stopping the bus and looking for trains works great when the visibility is good, but it’s useless in snow and fog. That is what led to the idea of opening the bus door (and driver’s window), so trains could be heard in poor weather.
Today, opening the door and/or driver side window is law in many parts of the United States and Canada. The same law is also extended to trucks that carry hazardous materials.
Some crossings do not require buses or hazardous material vehicles to stop and they are marked with an “Exempt” sign. This is typical if the crossing is no longer active.
Railroad crossing signals do fail and there are thousands of collisions each year between trains and cars, many of which end in fatalities. Although the signals are fairly reliable, it doesn’t hurt to pay close attention when you approach railway crossings.
Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.
Sources: The Pittsburgh Press, NSC.org, Deseret News
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Oh now I know, even though I figured it would have something to with with the safety of others because of a past fatality.
Okay…I have been wondering that question for a long time. I’ve taken the school bus from 6th grade all the way through high school 12th grade. So noticing that was without question. I once asked someone and they said it had something to do with the trains or listening for it. One student had a theory of the bus messing up the railroad signal if it didn’t stop and open the door, which we found was wrong when the bus just passed by and nothing happened. There were also theories saying so the satellites can track us to make sure the buses are on the right route and on time, lol. Everyone just agreed that it was defiantly required for the bus driver to do that. But now I know even more now. Thanks
In a rural area I travel to, I know where the R/R crossing are and I always make it a point to STOP my personal vehicle before crossing.
One time I stopped, looked both ways, and then started across the tracks. Just then I hear the loud horn of a freight train as it rounded the bend – moving slowly. Even that slow-moving train really unnerved me. To be looking at the approaching headlights of that beast 100 yards in the distance probably took a year off my life.
Interesting! Where are these tracks, or were these tracks, located?
I drove a school bus. Opening the bus door at RR crossings is an excellent safety measure. In WI, we weren’t mandated to open driver side windows, but at blind crossings or in inclement weather, I always did.
they didn’t get the idea to stop the bus BEFORE the crossing???
idk
that is really intresting, i had no idea!!!
When you carry human cargo you take every precaution that you can to protect them. I drive a school bus and you can never be to safe. I love my job and I love everyone of those kids that put their lives in my hands. It is not the easiest job in the world but it is very rewarding.
because they have to hear if trains are coming or not and probaly because there are so many bugs on the windows they cant see.(:
um ya so you dont die
the exempt signs also is on RRXing that crosses intersections that is controlled by traffic lights when the train is near 100yards the traffic lights in all directions turn red.
I always assumed it regarded the train itself, but my assumption as an elementary school at the time, was in order to hear if a train was coming / the railroad warning was sounding over the children on the bus.
Ooh. Now tell me that just didn’t give you chills.
NYS law is that you must stop 50 feet before the rail road track, activate your four way flashers, turn off all equipment, fans, heaters, radio open the door and driver side window before crossing. I have driven school buses for years and the laws have changed for the better to help drivers avoid such accidents. Drivers are given instructions at yearly refreshers, so they are reminded of the procedure. No excuse for not knowing the law here.
Why was it required by law to stop in the middle of a railroad crossing??
Just in case the bus gets stuck and the kids have to get out
my husband works for the railroad. Those trains are extremely fast and dangerous. The are required to blow the horn a serious of times about one mile before the crossing and from the second the nose of the engine hits the crossing until about three cars have past the crossing.
also consider that in the past buses were standard transmission. RR tracks are built higher so they are not flooded and the snow can be pushed off of them. When a bus stops, it will move and than need to be shifted in gear. many times over these humps the bus will stall or the driver will see a train and panic….
I would all so think that by opening the door they could hear if a train was coming.
I assumed they opened the doors in case something happened where the doors got stuck, at least they were stuck open whereas children could escape more easily
I knew why busses opened their doors at RR crossings, but I had always wondered what the “exempt” sign meant. Now I know. Thanks for helping me learn something today.
its a safety thing
Ok I know about the listening to the train but my Bus doesn’t cross railroad tracks. Why can’t they just stop BEFORE crossing?
In some states it is also required that AFTER stopping, opening door, etc. that when you proceed across the tracks you may NOT shift gears while doing so.
This, I understand, came about due to a new driver stalling the vehicle on the tracks when shifting which resulted in an accident when he could not get it restarted.
The *train* was broadsided? Doesn’t that imply the train was already crossing when the bus started forward?
Bus drivers not only open the door, they open a window next to the driver.
It still doesn’t make sense in my mind. If the bus stops on the tracks, wouldn’t that increase the chance that the bus is hit? If you stop, it takes longer to get going to avoid it. You could also get stuck between the rails if they do come down. Shouldn’t they stop before?
Interesting but sad.
To the dumb *** above…THEY DID STOP but the bus had no visibility. Read the damn thing
so was the bus just sitting on a railroad crossing or was it driving over at the time and then the train hit?
i don’t get it. lol.
They should probably just invest in better gates, here in the UK we have gates that cover the entire road which are manually controlled- from what I’ve seen with US rail-road gates, they usually only cover half the road and that’s with a stick-like pole.
But aren’t there railings that come down when the train is crossing? Would that mean that the bus driver blinde-ly kept on moving forward after hitting the railing?
I live in the Canadian province in Ontario and for many years – it’s the law for buses (and some trucks) to stop at level crossings. The neighboring province of Quebec has the same laws as Ontario.
However, during my recent visit to British Columbia, many transit buses do not stop at level crossings. I wish that BC should follow the footsteps of Ontario and Quebec on the particular law.
Wow, I was always wondering, and I figured it had to be something like this!
I don’t understand this….
Shouldn’t school buses STOP before they cross the tracks? And THEN proceed?
Isn’t that common sense?
Horrible accident.
Interesting. I wonder how much truth there is to this. The reason I say that is because on the older school buses there was a mechanical handle with linkage that the driver used to open the door. This was equipped with a switch that, once the door lever was pulled to open it, would cause the flashing lights to come on thereby requiring by law no one to pass the bus either from behind or in opposing lanes. To me this seems a safety measure unrelated to visibility through the glass in the door. Just thinking.
wow amazing..
OOOOOOOOOOOOOh! They do that to quiet the kids down~a scare tactic to shut those brats up!
THen the bus driver announces that the population is too high, but yet just kidding around. When the caboose starts up & the lights are a shing bright~bus driver speeds off leavin’ a trail of smoke! All is well, and you can hear a pin drop. Every rugrat is safe-n-sound. :–D
In the UK we have barriers that block the crossing if a train’s coming by. I’m quite surprised the same system isn’t used in the US.
good
As a teenager, I once travelled some distance by Greyhound bus, and even though it was a clear, bright day, the driver also stopped and opened the door at every railroad crossing. About a year later, my family moved to Rockville, Maryland, where a street that had obviously once crossed tracks had been blocked off. Someone told me that the reason was that there had been a tragic school bus accident there some years ago–one that I later read about in a local magazine. When I saw this question, I thought that the answer would involve that accident.
Yeah, sven raises the all-important missing link of this article. Why was the bus stopped ON the tracks rather than BEHIND the tracks boundary lines to begin with? Was this also due to poor visibility? Important details.
Sven, it told you that: they *did* stop before the crossing, but then proceeded through after thinking the train was clear even though one was there, because of there being a lot of snow flying, and because the crossing signal must have failed.
Whow, that’s too bad.
IT IS NOT REQUIRED IN NEW YORK STATE!!!! just in my school district
I currently drive for a bus company in Ontario, Canada. We not only stop, open the door and driver’s window, but place the transmission shifter in Park before looking and listening for approaching trains. We then proceed only when certain no trains or railway vehicles are approaching the crossing.
Very interesting! I’ve been wondering about this more recently, as I cross railroad tracks by bus almost everyday now.
I still dont understand. The BUS hit the TRAIN?
That means that the bus DIDN’T stop. If the bus had stopped, then the TRAIN would have been the one to hit the bus.
SPLAT! eewww
hmm very interesting i too did not know that, learn everything here on Yahoo answers thx you.
I’ve been driving a school bus for over 7 years. It is simply a safety measure. Here in Alabama, we’re required to activate our emergency flashers as we come upon a R/R track, stop at a safe distance & popping our emergency brake once stopped, open our driver’s window and the door. By opening the window and door, we can better hear if a train is approaching. In the county I live in, we only have one area (not near me) that has R/R tracks. Yet, all drivers are required to know this and are tested on it.
I also used to drive a bus. At rr crossings, the door and driver’s window was opened so that a train could be seen and heard. At some crossings that had short visibility, we had to put a “runner” out; a student who would look and signal to go if it was clear.
Always knew it was to see better and clearer. Just common sense to me.
I knew it was because of some type of fatality for school buses, trucks, city buses(over here it is required by law) and basically any vehicule that isn’t your own personal vehicule. any vehiculethat is used for business or work practices are by law required to stop at rail road crossings, except for the exempt ones and (over here anyway) the ones crossing the highway. over here if the signals stop working, a sensor makes the train put on the brakes
Haha wow i just learned about that law in school today haha weird…
This is an interesting article I read this month so far, thanks for sharing it!
because of safety reasons
HOW DO YOU NOT HEAR A FUCKING TRAIN
very interesting enjoyed this piece of information
so the bus driver can hear a train horn.
Stop, Look, Listen… Even in a CAR you should STOP at a crossing, if your traveling less then 30 M.P.H.
My 14 year old nephew told his younger sisters that they open their doors at train tracks so the train can get on the bus.
In the UK most rail crossings have barriers which come down and an alarm sounds when a train is passing through so people know when it is safe to cross.
so they can hear if a train is coming, safety reasons
It is also because of the the of blind spots that industrial vehicles have. It is easy for an incoming vehicle to not be spotted by the driver because the outer end of the sliding doors have wide frames that block the driver’s view when the doors are closed.
Haha thats funny what sven said. Its life
I agre, safty first. People are trusting you with their most precious cargo their children.
My mom, her sister, their mom, and their mom’s sister were in a car crossing the RR in rural FL (didnt have signals back then) and the sister of my mom’s mom was talking so loud they didn’t hear the train as the were crossing (also didn’t see it) and it took off part of the back of the car (it was still drivable) so i can see why everyone should have to do this
Opening your School Bus door allows for better hearing and sight.
It says “the *train* was broadsided without notice” (emphasis mine). That would imply the train was already going through the crossing when the bus started forward, and the bus struck the train. I would think it would be the other way around.
The bus drivers I’ve seen also open a window on the side opposite the door when at a crossing.
Sven, when we say a bus “stops at a crossing”, we mean the bus stops just before the crossing gate or markings on the pavement. We don’t literally mean the bus stopped on the tracks.
That is, they open a driver’s side window *in addition* to opening the door.
i think its so they can hear and see. but they also do it when ever there lights come on becasue its part of the light system. all new busses are done by air controle the doors and stop signs are wired together. when the light and stop sign go on the door opens. this also makes it safer incase people have to get out in a hurry. or maybe the lights only come on when the door opens. so they open the door so the lights come one
No, Sven. The bus does stop before the crossing.
The accident happened when the bus driver thought it was clear and drove across the tracks and was broadsided by the train.
The reason is. When the bus stops they open the doors to listen to see if there is a train on the way. Some buses when they stop the doors open automaticaly. Pick me
Wow! I always thought it was for running out to safety!
okay, they need to see if there is a train comming and i no wat ur thinking but they stiil have to do it my friend almost got hit by a train cause the levers didnt come down its pretty scary!!
When I come up to a crossing, if I can’t see up it enough to see a train (or lack thereof), I slow way down, even if it does annoy the people behind me. Better safe than sorry.
Whoa I didn’t even know about that story and I live in Salt Lake City! My driving instructor always told us to watch out for trains while crossing because he had a student killed before because they didn’t see the train.
So comes a lesson from all this: Always look both ways and watch for trains.
“According to surviving passengers, the train was broadsided without notice.”
Shouldn’t it read that the BUS was broadsided, not the train?
I vaguely remember when I was in Kindergarten the teacher instructing us on school bus safety, and us watching a video about riding on the bus. It had a scene of a bus driver pulling up to a railroad crossing and opening the door, so she could hear the train coming. Figured it had to be to hear if a train is coming, but never knew it was due to a gruesome accident.
Before when they just started making bus rides their was to many accidents when the bus driver didnt see the train and couldnt hear it because of the loud kids. so someone put in a letter to the president at that time to make the bus drivers open the doors and make the kids be quiet to have less accidents and their hasnt been much bus accidents ever since
they do it so they can hear for the train to see if it is coming or not. that is also why they tell everyone to be quiet on the bus so they can hear better.
@ Sven:
I’m pretty sure they stop the bus before the crossing, but anything can happen while the bus is going over the tracks..
♥
Thats what I call stupid. Why did they make the bus drivers stop at the tracks, why not before. I know it was the law, but come on Obama, are you really have that much sawdust in your head. Our bus driver stops before the train tracks and waits. She doesn’t care about the law, she cares about keeping us safe and sound, so when a train hits us, she survives, all the moms sue her, and it doesn’t end pretty as you’ve read. Hopefully now the law has been changed, but of course knowing Obama, all he will do is sit on his fat butt and eat Twinkies, so if I were you I wouldn’t rely on him..
I think its because when the bus opens the door it lights up so that the train can see it crossing…
I lived in Salt Lake City and hated crossing train tracks in bad weather… Now I know about why the bus drivers opened the doors!
What raises the need of stopping the school bus on the railway tracks? Shouldn’t it get going? Are there suppose to be school bus-stops on railways?
I agree that at a lot of train crossings, that don’t have cross traffic, that it makes more sense to keep a heavy vehicle moving so that it can more easily:
1. cross without hanging up on the tracks
2. therefore get out of the way
3. be across the tracks and safe to the other side
It takes more to time to get a larger, heavier vehicle moving that a passenger vehicle.
“but investigators wanted to know if any precautions could have prevented it.”
But I ESPECIALLY agree with the statement that the bus needed to have stopped BEFORE the tracks to listen if a train was coming; ESPECIALLY if visibility was impaired.
For the “investigators”, wasn’t that a no brainer?
Still doesn’t make sense though… stopping on the tracks doesn’t help at all. If you stop and open your door and see a train coming, you’re more likely to get hit because of the time wasted while you did this than if you just drove past like any other car. I asked my bus driver about why we would stop while we were on the tracks and she said she just did as she was told.
I’ve always wondered why our bus opened it’s doors. I always assumed it was to let our heat out in the winter (when we tend to fog up the windows) or to let fresh air in the summer. Our old bus driver really needs to read this, because we’ve almost been hit by a train several times (twice resulting in the top of the bus being hit by the rails that come down to stop people from crossing).
I’ve always wanted to know this! I’m a high school senior and ride the bus ever day to go from class to class since we have another campus about 5 minutes away that the school provides transportation to. I would have never thought that was the reason why buses are required to open the door before crossing the railroad tracks.
So, when I go to school tomorrow morning, I will now know why the bus driver does this!
Interesting, but why stop a bus ON a crossing in the first place? Common sense would dictate stopping BEFORE the crossing, indeed.
Great article. Hope everyone follows that. But can’t we have better technology to resolve this 100 year old issue? I know there must be something better then this that technology can do.
I thought they’re doing it to let the children out on purpose.
Population control I’d say..
As long as I can remember, I knew that buses had to stop to listen for trains *before* crossing RR tracks, but I never realized it was sparked by such a tragic event.
Kinda like how I’ve seen those “Exempt” signs my whole life and never really made the connection that the notice was for buses/HazMats only. I always just figured it was letting us all know we’d never have to worry about needing to stop in 55 MPH traffic – since I usually see those when an old RR crosses a now-highway.
… good stuff. Thanks for the smart post!
Tangipahoa Parish in Louisiana has a lot of train issues. The 2 main tracks are the site of several accidents every year. One recently took all the children of a family except one who didn’t feel like going out. His siblings were killed 2 blocks from their home on the way out. The intersection didn’t have a crossing gate or lights and there are many in the parish that don’t.
As a driver of any vehicle you should always stop and listen for oncomming trains. It’s not that hard and only takes a couple of seconds. Driving safe is better than dieing because you didn’t take the time to stop. Remember our cars can just about stop on a dime a train needs a mile. And there is no way you will win in a train accident
this is very interesting. i would have never guessed that actually happened. i’ve seen trains…and they went slow. so if they went that speed before, it’s seems shocking that a train going that slow could do so much damage.
I don’t understand why they wouldn’t let buses just go on past them without stopping? Especially in the city when the guard rails go down! It makes more sense for a bus to cross over going 50km/h than to stop and then slowly speed up and then cross going 10-30km/h…
bus drivers open their doors to hear for oncoming trains.
why dont they put tunnels under ground 4 trains
lmao! my bus doesnt go past a railroad but for tennis team competations, sometimes we pass railroads. i thought my tennis coach did that as a ‘throw away the bad luck’ or something.
Interesting. I imagine if I lived in a snowy area, I’d open my windows and look both ways before crossing a railroad in my car as well.
idrive in a school bus and when they opened the door during a blizzard and i was freezing when they opened the door and i wondered why thanks.
This only works if drivers obey the rules.. Bus drivers, truck drivers hauling hazardous materials, and any other driver. Quite sadly there are far too many who don’t. I was in the Chicago area a few years ago and was shocked and terified to watch drivers driving around the gate at a railroad crossing after it had been lowered. And you could see the train approaching. But just about every single driver had to cross as quickly as possible, there were maybe a grand total of six, including the driver I was riding with, who weren’t foolish enough to risk it. And I say foolish because I’m being nice. The words I would rather use are much harsher but more accurate.
I saw plenty of incidents as a kid where you’d come up to a train crossing where the train was stopped on the crossing and the cops, fire deapartment, and ambulance crews were already there after someone tried crossing ahead of the approaching train. And off to the side of the track was the wreckage of their vehicle It always made the paper that there were no either no survivors in the car or truck or that the driver was dead but they had at least one passenger who was still in critical condition. Always said they were trying to play Superman and lost.
Trains take a lot longer to stop than your car and have far greater weight to them so the car is always going to loose out in the collision. Even if the gate or the signal doesn’t look, if you see that signal STOP and make absolutely certain there isn’t one coming. It could very likely save your life.
my bus driver opens the door when we stop at RR crossings all the time.
I don’t think they should at all because what if a dum person walks out bye bye them!!!!!!
When I was in early elementary school, I even remember that it was required of us to be quiet and sit in our seats when the driver approached the railroad crossing. We would even give each other the “quiet” signal by pointing our first two fingers in the air. We were told that we had to be quiet and seated so that the driver can better hear and see a train. Once we were given the okay by the driver, we could start talking again.
I still don’t understand why they have to open their door. Also, all of the buses I’ve seen stop ON the tracks and open the door, not before.
Actually, no joke I lived in a suburban town, and went to cross the railroad tracks. A train went, with the post down. After a few minutes the post lifted and the car ahead of me went. It then began honking furiously, so I told my boyfriend to hold on a second. No sooner did we say that then ANOTHER train just flew by! No warning, no lights, nothing at all! I was SO furious, it really could’ve absolutely killed us if I hadn’t of told him to wait a minute.
So from now on I am extremely cautious. I look both ways, if theres a blind spot where I can’t see a train I slow down and look before continuing even though I don’t live in that city anymore. Forget it! If I can’t see, I won’t cross it.
Here’s a story of that crash, published the day after it happened. Pretty interesting (but really sad).
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aYUbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NU4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1273,590460&dq=south+jordan+bus+crash&hl=en
i think the government must build safety wall both sides of railway line…
like with the help of plants they can stop poeple to walk near railway lines
What’s all this about requirements to stop on the tracks? I recall seeing signs saying “No stopping on tracks,” or perhaps it may have been in my Driver Manual. I have never ever stopped on a track, unless an unused partially covered one.
There is a difference between “BEFORE the train tracks”, “AT the train tracks”, and “ON the train tracks”.
In this article *at the train tracks* is basically supposed to mean *right before*. It’s almost funny to me that no one can understand that the buses weren’t actually stopped in the middle of the tracks. Yes, you’re right, that WOULD be stupid. That’s why the buses stopped AT the train tracks, and not ON them. Like I stop AT the supermarket for groceries and not ON it. wow people… I’m disappointed.
Love the person above me… Just what I was going to write. The article never said anything about stopping ON the tracks. My guess is the bus was hit after it started moving again, after they had stopped AT the tracks to make sure there were no trains. People with no sense at all just assume that the driver stopped on the tracks and put everyone’s life in jeopardy when that was not the case.
This regulation for bus drivers to stop, hesitate with hazard flashers operating, with a decent clearance of the first rail; the doors open, and listen has been adopted by Toronto Transit. This is to avoid the occurence of a devastating accident. The fact that trains are very heavy and do not stop quickly is even more reason for this regulation to be adopted everywhere that a vehicle carrying passengers crosses a set of tracks. This makes absolute sense, and is in the interest of defensive driving techniques. Well done Toront Transit.
nice information. I also think about this but i didn’t know this interesting precaution.
Because itis the law in every state that I know of. Trucks are supposed to do the same.
Good info. but be glade you’ve never seen such a thing. Nothing like being behind a school bus (Stoped) and then Bang a train out of no where goes fragging the bus down the tracks… not a good way to start a snow covered day I would and will say I now SLOW down at tracks regardless of the adjacent warning systems.
I’m truly touched to learn why the doors opened on a School Bus, when Crossing the rails. Sad the lives lost every year to train accidents. Standing by the rails with no train in view, it all seems so peaceful. But knowing the deadly truth about rail accidents. I for one will take another longer look down the rails. I live in a city where we get on average 25 trains per day and we have no train station. So another look would not hurt, as much as not looking for who is rolling in.
Here in Canada school bus drivers have to stop at ALL train tracks, if not drivers can and most likely will loose their jobs… My mother has been driving school bus for a company in Kingston Ontario for over 12 years and
I am all for safety, but I find a lot of hypocrisies with this. If we care so much about human life, shouldn’t school buses have seat belts?
If we care so much about human life, why don’t municiple buses have to stop at crossings? Is it because we value kids’ lives more than adults? If so, shouldn’t all vehicles with kids in them have to stop at crossings?
Actually, ALL busses must stop and open their doors City and charter (think Greyhound & others specialty runs) as well as school.
All states have the law that if you are hauling people, hazmat you must stop 50 feet or before the white line, open your window or door (bus) and listen carefully to see if you hear a train approching.
In Rural areas there are not always lites and gates. So it became law that you had to stop, look and listen. Then you are to approch carefully still looking down the tracks for approching trains or maintence equipment that rides the tracks.
For cars, it is not required unless you have passengers in your car.
It is against the law to go around gates when they are lowered but many people do it cause they are stupid and think they are bullet proof. If the lites are flashing or you hear a train..STOP. A few minutes earlier arrival is not worth your life