Bus Full of Students Whacked by Crossing Gate

An incident involving a Hatboro-Horsham School District bus and a SEPTA train caused at least one onlooker enough concern to snap a photo and seek help from the media. But, SEPTA and a school district official said the driver followed proper protocol.  

Though nobody was hurt and there was no damage to the bus or its occupants, a Hatboro-Horsham School District bus on May 14 pulled too close to the tracks near the Hatboro SEPTA Station when a train was approaching and was slammed by the crossing gate.

Robert Reichert, the district's director of business affairs told Patch on Tuesday that the driver followed state law and stopped 100 feet before the tracks and put on its lights. 

"In some cases you can’t see everything and the bus has to actually move up slowly to get a better view of is there something coming or not?" Reichert said, adding that last week's incident was one of those instances. "Once she saw the train sitting in the station she stopped, immediately stopped, but couldn’t back up ... there were cars behind her ... She felt the safest thing to do was to remain where she was."

In doing so, the train's crossing gate struck the school bus. 

The flashing lights and ringing bells signaling the oncoming train were fully functional, according to a report that NBC Channel 10 broadcast in response to a photo snapped by a woman who saw it and thought the incident should be investigated.

Reichert said the driver shared what happened with the district's director of transportation and asked that it also be reported to SEPTA. Reichert said the driver has not been disciplined and the district is not considering policy changes.

"The driver did nothing wrong in our opinion," Reichert said. "We can’t necessarily control how SEPTA sets up their systems ... When you can’t fully see from where you’re stopping you have to gradually move forward."

The problem at the SEPTA Hatboro Station, according to Reichert is that the "arm and light mechanisms can not engage until the train pulls out from the station."

"The timing isn’t adequate," Reichert said. "Once that trains pulls into that station that’s when the lights and the arm should go down."

SEPTA Spokeswoman Jerri Williams agreed. 

"At most of our stations, the arm, the signals come down as soon as the train pulls into the station," Williams said. "I don’t know why and in what way the arrangement was made, but at that particular station, since 1974 I've been told, the signals and the arm is engaged when the train leaves the station." 

Saying "safety is our number one priority," Williams said SEPTA is interested in discussing with municipal officials the possibility of changing when the arm is engaged and for how long.

"We think the safest course for both vehicle and train interaction is for that gate to come down and be down longer," Williams said. "We welcome the opportunity to make that change."

What are your thoughts on this incident involving a school bus that transports children to and from school every day? Should SEPTA lengthen the amount of time its arm is engaged? Tell us in the comments.