A Florida School Bus Driver Ignores A Railroad Crossing

A school bus rolls toward a railroad crossing and the driver allegedly says the quiet part out loud: “Not gonna stop for no train.” Seconds later, a freight train clips the bus and kids scream as the reality hits. We’re Damon and the DK and Tree Podcast, and we had to talk about this Florida story because it’s the kind of everyday negligence that can turn into a headline with names, memorials, and lifelong guilt.

We break down what school bus safety is supposed to look like at train tracks, why commercial driving rules exist for a reason, and why “good evaluations” don’t matter when one decision puts 29 lives in danger. We also talk about the strange details that stick with you like the difference between panic and the kid who looks almost unfazed, and what that says about how people process danger. And because the clip spread fast online, we dig into the digital age truth: somebody is always recording, and accountability shows up whether you’re ready or not.

Then we zoom out to the part too many people ignore: freight trains can’t stop quickly. Train stopping distance isn’t a fun fact, it’s the reason crossings demand patience and full attention. If you care about parenting, public safety, transportation safety, or how small choices ripple into huge consequences, this conversation will hit home.

Subscribe for more real talk, share this with someone who drives for work, and leave a review if you want more breakdowns like this. What consequence fits a choice like “I’m not stopping for a train”?

Transcript

Morning Welcome And Setup

D.K 0:10

All right, good morning, good morning. How is everyone doing this morning? I hope your day is going good. I hope you woke up, you had a smile on your face, you're getting this day over with, and then you get to come home and relax. It's your boy Damon. I'm here with the DK and Tree Podcast. Ha man, okay. The level of tomfoolery that goes on in this world, and we just see it and just can't believe it. Come on now. Y'all, y'all need to stop playing. Yeah, yeah, that y'all definitely need to stop playing. Um let's go to Floda. Floda. Florida always has the best tomfoolery, don't they? The best tomfoolery. Just imagine you're waiting at the bus stop for your child to get home. And you want to see how their day's going. You want to see how everything was with their day. And they come home and they're nervous and they're freaked out. And they tell you, well, if the train would have hit us, I wouldn't have been home anyway. What you mean, the train? Uh okay. You know, I got to go to it. So we're gonna go ahead and listen to the first one, and then we'll go to the second one. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

A school bus driver in Florida is out of a job and under arrest for child neglect after she failed to stop at a railroad crossing and a freight train clipped her bus. Inside the bus, kids screamed and cried as the train passed very closely by. The driver who had all good evaluations before this allegedly muttered, quote, not gonna stop for no train.

Why Trains Cannot Stop Fast

Final Takeaways And Sign Off

D.K 1:57

Not gonna stop for no train. Ooh, I gotta take the glasses off of this one. Um, I don't even know where to begin with this one. I I really don't. I I I I really don't know where to begin with this one. Let's first up and say this. Um, if anyone drives any commercial motor vehicles and has a CDL license, one thing you have to do at any railroad crossings is stop. Yay, they just can't go across those railroad crossings, they have to stop, look both ways, clear, and then proceed. And I'm sure that that's the same applies for school buses or any type of commercial or commercial motor vehicles because they just can't drive across train tracks like that. And for the simple fact that you said that I ain't stopping for no train today, and those kids were on that bus. And as you saw in the back of the clip, the kids that were just sitting there and they were yelling and screaming, but you know, the one little kid, you know, and I'm not ragging on him, but seemed to have nerves to steal because he was just sitting back there on his phone. Oh, this just it seemed like that didn't even phase him. Like this happens on an everyday occurrence, and if that's the case, that's a problem. That's the part that stood out to me. Is like the other kid, the other kid was grabbing his book bag and he was running, but the other kid was just standing back with his phone. Like, oh, this is just another day in the neighborhood. I guess them Florida kids are built different because if I'm that close to a train or I see a train come down track and I'm on track, I would have been yelling and screaming at the bus track. Hey, let me off this bus, get me out of here. But for the simple fact that you didn't have any regard for those children on that bus, that's where I have a problem, and that's where this is really, really just a sad situation. Like this person apparently, allegedly had all good evaluation until this incident. But see, we're in the digital age now where they record everything, everything, and in this digital age, you do something, they ain't gonna uh it's somebody's gonna have it on camera, someone's gonna have it on camera, it's gonna pop up someplace, it's gonna end up someplace, and you see the news got that, right? Because someone was recording, because they probably saw the train coming and they saw you taking a school bus across those tracks. Like, wait a minute, let me record this. And and um, I think uh the news reports when I was looking it up, the lady was charged, and she got like 29 counts of reckless endangerment, and um, I think a reckless endangerment charged to an adult, and they holding her without bond. Good, they should because that made no sense. I again, Florida, Florida. Why am I not surprised? Florida. I I don't understand. I I'm a loss for words because so many of them kids could have been seriously hurt or killed if that train would have hit that bus. And for you not to have any regard for that, because in your words, it said, I ain't waiting for no train today. That's sad that someone thinks that way. Again, we have enough stuff going on out here in the world. We do enough stuff that's going on out here in the world for you to have any type of disregard for human life whatsoever. But uh, when I saw that one, I was like, oh, oh, oh. Yeah, I would have been pissed if that would have been my kid on that bus. Outrage. So, I mean, I'm glad that law enforcement took action against her, and you know, I have no pity for her. I don't, because you could have ended some children's lives for your reckless acts of going across that train track while that train was coming, and you know, I I I just don't understand how what someone's thinking to even do something like that. And matter of fact, I don't even want to know, but I'm gonna end on that note because uh again, that was a very that could have been a tragic incident that we would have been talking about today. Very, very tragic. Thank God it is not. You know, they said the train did clip the bus, but again, let's talk about these trains here for a second. On a lighter end, they may haul 128 cars on a lighter end, you know, but for the most part, they're hauling maybe 175, 180, maybe 200 cars. A train can't stop at drop of a dime. I think they said for a train to stop, it needs about three to five miles to stop, and they're hauling a whole bunch of weight behind it, so it's not like a car where you can try to stop it. That thing needs time because of all the weight that it's pulling, and like I said, this person didn't take into account, oh well, I ain't stopping for no train today. Them words are gonna haunt you, them words will haunt you. But again, I'm gonna sign off on here. I just wanted to share that quick story. I saw that blowing up on TikTok. I was like, oh my goodness, and you know, again, with all the stuff that's going on out here in the world, we gotta look out for each other. And you had 29 lives in your hands that you didn't care about at that time because you didn't want to wait for a train, as you said. In your words, in your words, so I'm gonna go ahead and sign off. I appreciate each and every last one of you that always comes on, listen to me, share your thoughts. Again, I hope everybody's having a great day. And the weekend's coming up. If I don't get a chance to jump back on here, everybody have a great weekend. You enjoy, and I will be back with you soon.