Mom asks Wake Schools to reconsider bus stop after speeder nearly hits son
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- If only the walk to one Wake County school bus stop in the morning was as easy as after school, Tammy Ray wouldn't have to worry about her son.
"People are crazy," exclaimed Ray after contacting ABC11 for help.
Her son walks just beyond a stop sign at the intersection of Harvey Johnson and Sauls Road armed with his cellphone flashlight.
"It's pitch black. There are no lights on either street. He always shines his flashlight," she explained.
His attempt to alert an oncoming speeding driver Tuesday morning was no help. Ray says the driver made a wide turn, forcing the teenager to jump out of harm's way.
Last year, at least one Wake County student was killed at a school bus stop. Another was injured.
The Wake County Public School System is updating its bus warning lights as well as installing stop arms and cameras on all of its buses to deter speeding drivers.
Ray says none of that would've prevented her son's near-miss with a speeding driver because his bus stop location is the real problem.
A nearby homeowner told ABC11 at least three cars have driven into his front yard that faces Harvey Johnson Road. He also pointed to a slight curve just before the intersection as a potential hazard.
"Why can't the bus turn and stop at the child's driveway," he asked.
It's the same question Ray says she posed to WCPSS when her son first attended high school.
"These people that are driving out here they need to pay more attention to these school bus stops and Wake County needs to come out and look at these stops to make them better locations," said Ray.
The school system says it encourages concerned parents to make bus stop change requests on its website.
Ray says her initial request to change her son's bus stop location was denied.
