‘Six Inches’ From Disaster: Florida School Bus Carrying Children Clipped by Freight Train

A Florida school bus narrowly escaped disaster after a freight train clipped the vehicle carrying dozens of children when the driver crossed railway tracks in a hair-raising moment captured on camera.

Video of the incident aired on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday, showing just how close the vehicle came to a full collision. Speaking to the network, one 12-year-old student who was on board described panic in the moments before impact.

“She, like, stopped on the tracks specifically and then didn’t move whenever we were all yelling, ‘Train!’ And it was very scary in the moment,” she said.

The incident unfolded in Sumter County last week when a bus transporting 29 students and one aide was clipped by a CSX freight train as it crossed railroad tracks. No injuries were reported, but authorities have since charged driver Yvonne Hampton with 29 counts of child neglect as well as reckless driving.

Hampton, who had worked for the school district since 2015, stepped down rather than face termination, according to local reports.

Sumter County Superintendent Logan Brown initially posted the video on Facebook while providing an update on the case and used it to underscore how narrowly disaster was avoided: “When you really understand how close this was, it’s sobering. A matter of six inches is the difference in all of this, and it could have been an extremely catastrophic situation.”

According to arrest records obtained by Fox News Digital, Hampton told police she had attempted to cross the tracks after a car ahead of her appeared to move, only for it to stop again, leaving the bus partially obstructing the crossing.

She said she continued forward once the crossing warning system activated, believing she had no option but to clear the tracks.

“The defendant said she then had to stop right where the bus was parked,” the report stated, adding that she later moved forward but “it was not enough.”

Investigators, however, concluded otherwise and argued: “Based on the video evidence, it is clear the defendant made the decision to cross the railroad tracks after she saw the railroad warning system activate; thus, through culpable negligence, the defendant neglected each child and exposed the adult bus aid to possible injury.”

Hampton appeared in court this week, where her bond was set at $30,000.

Watch above via ABC News.

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