19 Riders Hurt as Train Strikes RTD Bus

Nineteen people suffered minor injuries Wednesday when a slow-moving Southern Pacific train struck the front of a Rapid Transit District bus that the driver had stopped too close to a railroad crossing in South Gate.

All of the injured were treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood and released.

The bus driver, Floyd Covington, 50, will not be allowed to drive a bus nor will he be paid pending the conclusion of an investigation by South Gate police, said RTD spokesman Marc Littman, adding that the actions are normal procedure in an accident.

Covington, who has been an RTD driver since September, 1982, apparently received some minor cuts but did not require medical attention, Littman said.

The bus was northbound on Long Beach Boulevard when the driver heeded a flashing red light at the rail crossing at Ardmore Avenue but stopped too close to the track, said Southern Pacific Transportation Co. spokesman Jim Loveland in San Francisco. The bus “was hit a glancing blow on the right front corner,” he said.

The westbound train, three engines and a caboose, was traveling at 17 miles an hour when the 9 a.m. accident occurred, Loveland said. There is no barrier at the intersection. The train traveled about 100 feet before the engineer was able to stop. The bus was knocked about three feet by the impact.

Preliminary indications were that Covington apparently misjudged the distance between his bus and the railroad track and did not see or hear the train, said South Gate Police Lt. Earl Ludwick.