All these comments are trash. I feel like none of you watched the video all the way through to completion to see why this accident actually occurred and that’s not totally the bus drivers fault. I keep seeing people say “why didn’t she move off the tracks?” “Why did she just sit there?” “ there’s no way she couldn’t hear the train and the kids yelling at her to go.” Because she didn’t know she was on tracks. She didn’t know why the kids were yelling and only had seconds to try to figure it out. How can she clearly hear what they are saying when they’re all screaming in panic? Also it’s been stated that the intersection was poorly designed and that multiple things are modified (like light times) that screwed up the system and made it possible for an accident like this to happen in the first place. You can so easily judge her from behind your screens because you did not live this moment like she did in that drivers seat. And if you try to say that she should’ve known her route better, she was subbing for somebody who had called off. She doesn’t drive any of the routes. She just works in the transportation department for the school. “She should have felt the bar hit the bus.” Well I’m not surprise she didn’t because kids bouncing around on the bus can make that easy to miss and I doubt it hit the bus hard enough to be noticed on the inside. It was a driver behind the bus pointed out that the bar came down and tapped it. And the light turning green? She was too distracted by the screaming to notice. Otherwise she would have pulled through and the bus never would’ve been hit. I don’t know if you can really find fault with the bus driver or not considering all the factors in play. The most you could really say is maybe she should’ve had a little more situational awareness but how could she have known she needed to pull forward if she thought she was clear of the tracks? How was she supposed to be more situationally aware? Perhaps she should’ve just listen to the students and pulled out into the traffic but then they would’ve gotten hit by a car and since she didn’t know the train would hit them why would she pull into traffic and risk getting hit? Also it’s quite mean to say she shouldn’t work in transportation ever again when all she did was go back to her original position because she was just subbing to drive that bus for the day. She needs to have a job so she can eat and have a home. Maybe she had a family she provided for. You don’t know.

Kids: "TRAAAAIIIIIINNNNN!" Driver: "I'm confused."

“Was it solely the driver’s fault?” Pretty much yeah

Stories like these make me realize why my parents worry when I'm out of their sight...

If you’ve got 30 kids screaming “ There is Train, MOVE”, a train horn blasting, and bystanders yelling to you move and you’re confused… AND your like the school safety director thing…just how.

Never stop on a track. Run the damn light.

Ironic it was a safety supervisor that was driving

I seen many comments wondering why she was never charged with anything. The fact that the crossing was in fact deemed designed incorrectly, it puts the county/city in a bad spot more than the bus driver in legal context. However, I do feel something was very off about her not being able to notice the train or the crossing signal hitting the bus TWENTY FIVE SECONDS prior to the train approaching

I remember this story from driver's ed. My instructor used this as a case study to teach us why it's so important to make sure we don't stop on railroad crossings.

I feel like common sense would kick in to move....you have all those students saying go, and the train horn. At that point I'd fucking go even if it was a red light

I used to be a school bus driver and they used this and other incidents to teach us railroad crossing safety.

so the woman taught “safety” huh? Ironic,

“was it the drivers fault?” yes. it was quite literally ALL her fault.

RIP Jeffrey J. Clark at age 17, Michael B. Hoffman at age 14, Joseph A. Kalte at age 16, Shawn P. Robinson at age 14, Tiffany Schneider at age 15, Stephanie Fulham at age 15 and Susanna Guzman at age 18. You will not be forgotten.

So she didn't even spend one day in jail for her blatant Negligence. That's just disgusting.

I’m shocked Patrice didn’t turn up dead later after this tragic event.

*gate hits bus* *train blares horn* *kids start screaming* Patricia: what's going on?

Thank you for mentioning the engineer. So many times people forget to mention the trauma of train crews. They are victims of grade crossing incidents as well.

Kids : *Screams* Theres a train coming! Bus driver : I'm sorry kids, but the light is red

The driver's negligence should've gotten her jail time. Or to lose her job at least.

Wow. I graduated from this high school in 2020, and lived only about 5 minutes from where this occurred. I've crossed these tracks at that exact intersection hundreds of times and this hits extremely close.

The fact that she didn’t even notice the alarms and gate THAT HIT THE BUS

Which is more important? 7 lives or a $500 dollar traffic ticket

The sole responsibility of a school employee is the safety of students first and foremost. This is truly sad. 🥺 My heart goes to the families.

This took place pretty close to where I live. It was pretty sobering to hear this story in middle school before our bus safety lesson. May all those children rest in peace

The driver is 100% at fault, never stop on the tracks is common sense.

"The crossing was badly designed," Nah fam, that driver WAS.

Who in the hell ever thought that this stop light situation was ok? Whoever it was should have been fired and charged with the result of this crash. It’s on their shoulders.

I had a fellow bus driver once get talked to for running a red light. They simply said "Safety First, it turned red without warning and I am not leaving my bus on a train track."

I have family who work for the railroad, and one thing they told me when I got my license was this; if you’re crossing the tracks and the gates close down on you, drive through them. They’re made of a material thats easy to break, and replacing the gates is much easier than dealing with you getting hit by a train.

This comment is edited, now you’ll never know why it has so many likes.

you telling me after this event she stayed at that job for 5 more years, retired, and moved away from the state where she murdered 5 children? wow

Omg this nearly happened to my bus when I was in 1st grade. Exact same scenario you described in the beginning. It was terrifying but luckily our bus driver floored it and got out of there. Could've easily not been like that but I'm glad it went the way it did

I prefer running a red light getting a ticket waiting on train to hit me

Kids: *Screaming DRIVE GO FORWARD, TRAIN COMING!* Bus Driver: *Patricia was confused by these quotes*

there’s a reason you’re not supposed to stop on the train tracks while driving no matter what you’re driving

Imagine everyone screaming for you to go and you're just like "huh?"

Everyone: “GO, GO, GO!” Bus Driver: “I don’t understand “

So it was claimed that the driver was 'devastated' however she continued working in the school district-transportation department until retiring? How devastated could she have been if she continued working around school buses for another 9 years? Putting the bus in that situation alone should have seen to her termination.

I grew up in this town hearing this story, and passing through this intersection practically every day. We have a tribute outside of our high school dedicated to the children that passed. It's so tragic, and there have been so many train accidents since. Please be alert around trains no matter the situation.

I went to school here, there’s an area in the front to honor the 7 victims. My mom also went to school at cg. One of her friends was a victim that day. Every year, atleast when I was there, they’d hold a little memorial for them around the time of the accident. It’s a wonderful school and community to be apart of. Some of my absolute favorite moments where inside those school walls, and that’s coming from someone who’s not a fan of school. Its a shame that this tragedy took place, but the community keeps the spirits of those who passed alive and I hope that continues.

Kid: there’s a train! The driver: the train doesn’t dismiss you, I do.

This is 95 percent the bus drivers fault... none of this is the engineer's fault The other 5 percent is the people who designed the crossing

No matter what excuses you find the simple fact that the dust driver did not move is disgusting. The possible collision by vehicles would always be better then a freaking train. PERIOD!

It's so weird to see all these places that I grew up by in a documentary, granted a smaller one, but still. We have a tribute to those seven kids in front of the High School that I went to (Cary-Grove High School).

The bus driver was the main cause since SOMEHOW she couldn't hear what the hell was going on when kids were screaming "GO!"...

That poor engineer. I can only imagine the pain he went through just before the crash when he realized he couldn't stop in time, after the accident hearing the number of dead and injured, and during the hearing as he relived the tragedy. I hope he knows it wasn't his fault and that it likely would have been so much worse if he hadn't done all that he had by managing to slow the train down as much as he did. Bless his heart.

I live right near here and remember when this happened and my mom talking about it. This is so tragic. I was actually just at this crossing a short time ago for my grandpa's funeral and we discussed this horrific incident....it hits so much more when you see the real footage and hear the reasons why this unfortunately happened. Good jobs this video and all the details on this

I’m a bus driver in Illinois and one of my former co workers from a different job had a child on this bus. Her kid lost a very good friend because he saw the train and started throwing other students towards the front when it was hit and he was killed. Her story about this day stuck with me and it made me a better driver. If you can’t do it safely, don’t do it.

How do you get confused from a train horn gates and people yelling move there’s a train coming

Did anyone ever talk to the original bus driver that didn’t show up to work? Even though he wasn’t directly responsible for the accident AT ALL…that kind of *”what if?”* would haunt me until the day I died.

I was a junior in Highschool when this happened. Such a tragedy.

no matter what, you never stop on train tracks

Interesting fact: After the incident, Fox River Grove renumbered their ambulance to 657, the 7 has angel wings on it signifying the students that were killed

my school counselor's son was one of the teenage boys who died in that crash. She moved from home after he died to a town a little more south and comes in to the driver's ed class every semester to share his story.

My dad accidentally killed our car on a train track right as a train was coming, we were yelling at him to get it going and it scared the heck out of him. It was stick and he almost flubbed it since he was panicking. Thankfully in the end he got it going and we got off.

Saw a PSA announcement. It went like “A train will stop. Only a mile after hitting you.”

"Was it solely the driver's fault?" Yes. When the bar hits the bus and everyone starts screaming in fear, yes.

The day after this horrible accident, a similar intersection in my town in New York State was reconfigured. The traffic lights were moved to other side of the tracks so that traffic would have to stop before the tracks when the light turns red.

None of us were there, none of us witnessed it, none of us know how we'll react in an emergency unless/until it happens. Also, anyone remember a certain (legal) principal called "innocent until PROVEN guilty"?

She wasn’t arrested for child endangerment? Really? When the light turns green that means floor it.

Kid who pretended that he had fever to stay home: God is with me?

Not murder or manslaughter; she simply seized among all the commotion. I'm sure most if not all of us have been in a situation like that. Her biggest mistake was failing to realize the position of the stopped bus. R.I.P to those whom lost their lives and hopefully all survivors and family were able to move on with their lives without any harmful lasting effects.

when my bus (used to) stop at the tracks the bus monitor would hush us quickly and the driver would open doors and listen and see. i’m grateful for him

These kids were expecting a totally normal day. This puts it into a chilling perspective how any day can be your last day.

>Drive bus over train tracks and immediately stop >Hear the ding ding start and the lights start flashing >Hear the gate arm thump the top of the bus >Hear the train horn >Hear kids start screaming to move the bus and see them trying to get out >"this is fine"

That woman should’ve gotten the death penalty for killing those children! Young lives of future doctors, lawyers, engineers, hard workers, gone. All because some woman couldn’t comprehend common sense of a BAR SLAMMING ON THE BACK OF THE BUS AND CHILDREN SCREAMING FOR THEIR LIVES GO! GO! GO!

“Departing Crystal Lake” The day was doomed from the start.

It was her fault. 6 seconds the light turned green. With all that commotion I understand she got confused but she still should have kept her eyes ahead on the light. She would have realized the light had turned green for her to go.

John's neck snapped and he choked on his own blood he was my moms friend but good thing my mom is alive this day!

I live here, and did at that time. I pass the "7 Angels Crossing" almost everyday of my life. My children had friends on that bus. The bus was 38' long. The Metra train overhangs the tracks by a few feet on either side. The train hit doing approx 45 mph. Traffic on Rt 14 were stopped bumper to bumper in front of the bus, so she (bus driver) really would've had to drive into 4 lanes of cross traffic to clear the tracks. Mistakes were made by several. The intersection was revamped to accommodate a longer green light after the gates go down. Still praying for the families that lost their children on that horrific day. 🙏💕

Everyone: Go go go! There’s a train! Bus driver: *Confused*

I would rather hit a car than hit a train but maybe that’s just me 🤷‍♂️

"But the bus driver didn't understand the screaming and was confused!" My God. I hope my ignorance and stupidity never ends up causing a completely unnecessary tragedy like this. Simply because one FOOL couldn't us her brain 7 children died.

I am a retired engineer (former CNW) and I still remember that accident. I also remember seeing a forlorn Wisconsin Div. engineer, Ford Dotson, who I did not know personally but saw often at Proviso Yard or at M19-A (the servicing diesel ramp for commuter locomotives) testifying before some board of inquiry and you could just feel the anguish Dotson experienced when he realized what was about to happen but was helpless to stop his train in time that was moving so fast. RR crossings are dangerous folks....do not ever cross when the bells are ringing or gates are down. Like the old saw goes, "It's the one you don't see that usually hits you."

You know what makes me so sad, is knowing that this accident was 100% preventable. It also shows why my father doesn't want me to scream or act weird all a sudden when he is driving because that distracts him, just like how this lady could not see the green light 6 seconds earlier because of the screaming.

This tragedy really is so awful. Really gets under my skin with how avoidable it was. Like what was the bus driver thinking... I know the kids on that bus had to be screaming their heads off! 🤦🏽‍♀️

This is completely the bus drivers fault tbh

It may be 23 years but in the minds of many it was yesterday. Very sad.

That train disaster in fox river grove in 1995 sounded really scary and really disturbing!

"There's a train coming!" "We're on the tracks!" *excessively loud train horn* *screeching of train breaks* "Move forward!" * Is still confused on the scenario, and decides to do nothing *

Gate arm: slaps back of bus “This bad boy can fit so much fear in it”

Everyone commenting and blaming the bus driver and not knowing the whole story... This video is only half of the details. Anyone who blames the driver needs to get their brain checked out.

I live on a huge HUGE college campus. There’s a train just like that. I do not understand how she did not hear it.

The driver should have gotten charged, could easily have been negligent manslaughter, was entirely her fault. She completely ignored the gate sirens and lights for 20 seconds, the gate hitting the bus (guess she doesn't use her mirrors), the train blowing its horn, the light actually turning green and the kids yelling at her to move, unbelievable.

“She was confused” WTF IS SO CONFUSING ABOUT A BUNCH OF KIDS SCREAMING “ there’s a train move!!!”

I live in this area. One of my dear family friends was on this bus with his twin. They were both hurt very badly hurt one of them was even listed as black (dead) on scene but he was later found to be still alive and went on to live. He and his twin later became paramedics who both worked with my mom who was also a medic. They are two of the nicest people on earth and I can’t imagine what they went through.

That light should have been green during the entire duration of the train passing. The pedestrians can wait

Kids: *MOVE MOVE THERE’S A TRAIN COMING MOVE!* Patrica: *Whats a train?*

I know this is crazy but kids always listen to your gut, in any situation when your mind tells you, get out of this place, leave this area, you go. Don't stay or listen to any authority figure because you know you don't feel safe, I actually was shocked to find out the kids didn't actually at least run to the front of the bus, they all sat at their places.

Or maybe the train just said: 22 years later and I'm still a knockout!

Today is the 27th year of the accident and this is literally the worst thing that can happen during a bus ride to wherever! All respect to the students(the 7 students who lost their lives and surviving students) bus driver, train driver/anyone onboard the train, and surviving families of the accident!😢 truly a tragic day at Fox River Grove, Illinois

I blame the bus driver

That bus driver was a SAFETY SUPERVISOR and she clearly violated every safety precaution she'd learned and that she had taught others. That driver left part of her bus across the track. As a result, seven students died, and the surviving students were affected for the rest of their lives. I lived in Palatine at the time and I knew that crossing well. The newspaper articles at that time tried to place the blame on the train. There were numerous factors involved including Fox River Grove's traffic department failures. That bus driver should have been terminated, but she was allowed to work for another five years!

either those kids could've escaped from that back door and I'm sure there are other safety doors even a roof or the door or the driver could've ran the red light. like it was so preventable

I can’t imagine the guilt the bus driver must feel. I hope she’s found some peace.

That bus driver was definitely at fault here

6:40. Definitely Drivers fault, who stays there if they're stuck on track and waits for death. Shouldn't they immediately evacuate the whole bus? Man, having a new person handling jobs like buses, and medical feild is terrifying, this is giving me reasons not to trust newbies.

Never cross if there is not enough space for your vehicle on the opposite side of the railway tracks.

The driver was not 100% at fault. It was mostly a collection of unfortunate events that could not have been fully avoided.