DC teen explains to FOX 5 why he clung on the back of traveling Metrobus

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A video of a 15-year-old boy holding on to the back of a Metrobus in D.C. as it was traveling on the roadway has gone viral on social media.

"I look up and I had to double look because I didn't know if I saw it correctly," said Tahj Clarke.

It happened Monday afternoon along Benning Road in Northeast D.C. where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour.

Clarke says he just had to pull out his cellphone and start recording when he noticed a person hanging off the back of an X2 Metrobus. He captured the shocking scene as he was heading home from work.

In the video, the teenager can be seen standing on the back bumper of the bus while holding onto one of the vents.

Since the video was posted to social media, it has been seen and shared tens of thousands of times.

"My first instinct was like don't fall," said Clarke. "You're going 40 miles an hour, it's cold outside, windy. But then it was hysterical to me honestly so I just had to share it."

The teenager told FOX 5 he was catching the bus home from school. He says he never expected that what he did would get so much attention.

"I just wanted to have fun and I just wanted to do a little childhood dream I have always wanted to do," said Ta'Vaughn. "It wasn't for clout - none of that. So anybody who thinks it was for that, it wasn't for that. I had no intention of anybody recording."

Meanwhile, Ta'Vaughn's mother hopes what her son did will bring awareness to what she calls a bigger problem of buses bypassing bus stops.

"They don't stop a lot of times when they see a lot of kids," she said. "So the kids still got to get where they are going. We get on the back of the bus. It's not hard. You've seen him do it. He will do it again if he needs to, but he's not going to do it just because he wants to."

Metro has called the incident reckless and is thankful that this person was not injured or killed.

Metro says it will not pursue any criminal charges against the teenager.