Why Do School Buses Stop at Railroad Tracks?
If you’ve ever ridden on or driven behind a school bus, you might have noticed that these yellow behemoths always stop at railroad tracks, regardless of whether there is an oncoming train. The driver stops, opens the window and the door, and listens before heading along. But have you ever wondered why?
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To some, the practice might seem like a waste of time, or at least like an overly cautious safety measure. But like many traffic laws, it was a tragedy that led to this one. To understand why school buses stop at railroad tracks, we need to go back to Sandy, Utah, on Dec. 1, 1938, when the worst school bus accident in U.S. history occurred.
The tragedy that led to the rule
A snowstorm had been raging in Sandy, where bus driver Farrold “Slim” Silcox was taking a group of 39 students to Jordan High School. When he arrived at a railroad crossing at 300 West and slightly north of 10600 South (which doesn’t exist anymore), he stopped to look for a train by looking through the windows. The law at the time only required bus drivers to stop and look, but it didn’t require them to open the door to listen for oncoming trains.
As Silcox began to cross the tracks, a train slammed into the bus. “The Flying Ute” had been heading north from Denver, running an hour late because of the blizzard. It collided with the school bus at 60 mph, dragging it for nearly half a mile before it could stop. Slim Silcox and 23 students died.
Results from the updated law
Since then, the law has required school bus drivers to not only stop at all railroad crossings, but also to open their door and side window to listen before proceeding. Even on sunny days where drivers can see clearly both ways for hundreds of feet, they are still required to stop, open, and listen. While there have been occasional accidents involving buses and trains in recent history, none have been as horrible as the Sandy, Utah, tragedy thanks to the updated law, which varies by state.
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For more on school bus safety as we observe National Safety Month this June, check out our school bus safety tips that you can remind yourself of before school starts back up in the fall.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.