School bus drivers from Manteca Unified School District boarded the Union Pacific Safety Train Wednesday morning to get a better idea of the dangers they face at rail crossings driving school children on the roadways.With their yellow school buses parked across the tracks, some two dozen drivers climbed aboard the old coaches and a dome car in two shifts and listened to a presentation by Michel Aartman and other volunteers with Operation Lifesaver. Aartman said they were in awe when they saw a bicyclist drinking a cup of coffee while riding in the path of the engine.Drivers pointed out a safety condition of concern at the Yosemite Avenue crossing where the oleander bushes have grown so tall that it is hard for them to see over them and down the tracks.Aartman delivers some 10 presentations a month from Stockton to Fresno and Livermore. The Manteca woman also presents the “Get Real Behind the Wheel” driver safety course at the Altamont Speedway.
ON TRACK FOR SAFETY
UP train helps teach drivers a lesson