WATCH: NJ School Bus Driver Fired After Passing FedEx Truck

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A school bus and a FedEx truck nearly collided in Lakewood Wednesday afternoon when the bus driver attempted to pass the truck on Airport Road.

The incident, captured in a video that had 500 Facebook shares as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, took place on Airport Road Wednesday about 2:30 p.m., near an entrance to the Garden State Parkway.

In the video, the school bus pulls across the double yellow line to pass the FedEx truck. As the school bus attempts to pass, the FedEx truck swerves left into the path of the bus, forcing the bus fully into the oncoming traffic lane. The bus disappears as the driver speeds up to complete the pass, and the bus is next seen on Cedar Bridge Road, getting onto the northbound Garden State Parkway.

The video shows the bus labeled Jay's Bus Service, and the bus number 256 is visible. It cannot be determined from the video whether the bus, which had tinted windows, was carrying any students at the time. The number also is fully visible on the FedEx truck, X7488.

"The driver was let go last night," a woman answering the phone at Jay's Bus Service said Thursday morning. The woman, who would not give her name, said there were no students on the bus at the time of the incident. She said the bus was driving for an Ocean County school district, but she would not specify which district.

FedEx issued a brief statement by email through its media department Thursday morning: "We take safety very seriously and are looking into the matter."

Stephen O'Connor of Lyndhurst, who posted the video, said the incident had been brewing for more than a mile before that.

The FedEx truck had apparently pulled out in front of the bus, and O'Connor, who was behind the bus at that point, said the bus driver had pulled onto the double yellow lines a few times, attempting to pass.

"We were going about 25 miles an hour, and you could tell the FedEx guy was messing with him," O'Connor said. The FedEx truck slowed down even more: "At one point I looked down and we were doing 18 miles an hour."

O'Connor said he had a feeling something was going to happen, and when they came to a stop at the traffic light where traffic funnels onto the Parkway southbound, he picked up his phone and started filming.

"I had no idea how crazy it was going to get," O'Connor said.

O'Connor said he has worked in the Lakewood Industrial Park, where the incident took place, for nearly 30 years. The 2,000-acre corporate and industrial park is home to more than 300 businesses of many types, from manufacturing to packaging to distribution, and tractor trailers have long been a staple of the industrial park.

But O'Connor said the surge in private schools that have been built in the park in recent years has added dozens of school buses to the mix.

"It's created a lot of trouble for the delivery trucks," he said.

Airport Road in particular has been problematic, he said. Airport Road connects New Hampshire Avenue to Cedar Bridge Avenue, and with the reconfiguration of the Parkway exit 89, is heavily traveled by commuters and local residents alike.

Jay's Bus Service is a private bus company that contracts with a number of school districts to transport students. Some of those contracts are for out-of-district placements for special education services, others are to transport students to private religious schools.

The number also is fully visible on the FedEx truck, X7488.

A person answering the phone at Jay's Bus Service Wednesday evening was aware of the video but could not give comment. "That will have to be handled in the morning," the person said. "Neither the manager nor the owner are here right now."

Some who viewed the video have criticized O'Connor for using his phone while driving.

"I don't know if I did the right thing or not," he said Thursday. "In this day and age you never know anymore."

Photo: screengrab from Stephen O'Connor's video