Road rage: NJ school bus, FedEx truck swerve toward incoming traffic

LAKEWOOD — A school bus and a FedEx truck were caught on video in what appears to be shocking road rage incident on Airport Road.

The video, caught on cell phone, shows a yellow school bus driving behind a FedEx tractor-trailer. The video was originally posted to Facebook Wednesday by Stephen O’Connor, who says in his post that the bus driver appeared to be “upset” that the truck was only driving about 20 miles per hour.

The video then shows the school bus crossing a solid yellow line to pass the truck on the left. As the bus attempts to get back in front of the tractor-trailer, the truck driver swerves toward the vehicle, and both vehicles veer into a turning lane and eventually into the oncoming traffic lane, just as they pass through an intersection. The vehicles barely avoid a collision with a vehicle driving in the opposite direction.

After the bus passes the truck, it moves back into the right lane on onto a Garden State Parkway entrance ramp, then through EZPass tolls and onto the highway. The exact exit is not clear.

The bus, which is numbered 256, is labeled "Jay’s Bus Service," which is based in Lakewood. The service provides private bus service to school districts in Ocean County, according to its website.

A person who picked up the phone at the company Thursday morning said the driver had been terminated, but did not provide any other details on the incident.

It’s not clear from the video which school district, if any, the bus was working for at the time of the incident, nor is it clear if there were students on the bus. FedEx was contacted for comment. A media spokesperson was unaware of the incident but said the company plans to investigate.

"We take safety very seriously and are looking into the matter," Rae Lyn Rushing, a FedEx spokeswoman, told NJ 101.5 Wednesday evening.

Avraham Krawiec, the director of nonpublic transportation for the Lakewood School District said he didn't know if the bus involved in the incident was driving for the Lakewood district at the time. He said he is familiar with Jay's Bus Service and believes its drivers take safety seriously.

"I don’t know if he was working for the LSTA or public schools but really, it doesn’t matter. I know that Jay’s as a company takes safety very, very seriously. The safety of the children is the most important thing," Krawiec told NJ 101.5.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.