KENORA, Ont. — The Transportation Safety Board says the driver of a transit bus which was badly damaged in a collision with a train last year was distracted at the time of the accident.
No one was injured when a Kenora Transit bus carrying seven passengers was struck in the rear by a CP freight train at a level crossing on Aug. 8, 2019.
The driver had just stopped the vehicle on the south side of a two-track crossing, just before a bridge, after noticing through his mirror that two people were running toward the bus stop on the north side of the crossing.
According to the TSB report on the incident, as the driver completed a left turn to cross the tracks, he had motioned to the two individuals to proceed over the crossing where the bus would wait for them.
Simultaneously, a passenger using a cane stood up and moved forward in the bus to get the driver's attention.
When the bus pulled to a stop, the driver was unaware that the right rear corner of his vehicle was on top of the railway track.
He opened the door for the new passengers just as the passenger with the cane tapped him on the shoulder, drawing his attention to an open door in a storage area above the driver's seat.
As the driver reached up to close the door, the freight train collided with the bus.
TSB investigators found that the driver had operated buses for eight years.
He had seen the train approaching in the distance, and although the crossing bell and lights were activated, the gates had not begun to descend.
"In addition to the multiple visual cues in the vicinity of the crossing, the driver was distracted by the passenger with a cane...The driver's concern for the standing passenger as the bus was coming to a stop further divided his attention while he was in the process of driving across the tracks and making a stop," the TSB report states.
"People have limited attention capabilities. Divided attention affects the amount of attentional resources a person can direct to a priority task. In this occurrence, the driver had completed the task of making a stop and assumed that the bus was completely clear of the tracks."
As the TSB notes, Ontario's Highway Traffic Act stipulates "When the driver of a vehicle is approaching a railway crossing at a time when a clearly visible electrical or mechanical signal device...is giving warning of the approach of a train, he or she shall stop the vehicle not less than 5 metres from the nearest rail of the railway and shall not proceed until he or she can do so safely."
