WATCH: Bus driver fired after close call with train

COPPERAS COVE, Texas (KWTX) — A Copperas Cove school bus driver who got too close to the tracks as a train passed at a local crossing is no longer employed by the district, a CCISD spokeswoman said Wednesday.

A motorist shot video at the crossing as the train passed.

The driver of the bus, which had about 25 students aboard, stopped at the 17th Street crossing Tuesday afternoon and then started to cross the tracks.

“As the bus entered the tracks, the red flashing lights began, the bell sounded and the crossing arm began to come down,” spokeswoman Wendy Sledd said.

“The bus driver reversed the bus off of the tracks to ensure the safety of the students but the crossing arm came down on the bus,” she said.

“The bus was not in contact with the train and no students were harmed in the incident. The driver was not cited,” she said.

After the incident, the students were transferred to another bus with a different driver.

The district’s drivers all receive 25 hours of in-service training at the start of each school year, Sledd said, in addition to the 20-hour certification required for their licenses.

They also attend monthly safety meetings.

The district’s drivers will undergo a refresher cross on railroad crossing safety before their afternoon routes on Wednesday.

The district transports nearly 5,600 students daily over 170 routes, covering 2,710 miles a day and nearly 480,000 miles a year.

During school travel hours, the district says, citing U.S. Department of Transportation data, 58 percent of fatal accidents involving students occur when teens are at the wheel and 23 percent occur when an adult is driving, compared to one percent when traveling by school bus.

“This equates to students being 50 times more likely to arrive at school and back home alive if they take the bus than if they drive themselves or ride with friends,” CCISD Deputy Superintendent of Operations and Support Services Rick Kirkpatrick said.

“Our drivers undergo drug and alcohol testing throughout the year and undergo frequent driving record checks to ensure our students are safe.”