Caught on camera: School bus driver does risky maneuver
WENDELL, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Wake County father says he caught a school bus driver on camera doing something he didn't think looked very safe.
Almost every morning, Ted Butts says he drives behind bus number 405 on Riley Road on his way to work in the Wendell area.
"I always notice this bus doing the same thing," said Butts.
So one morning he pulled out his cell phone and hit record. In his video, you can see the bus, possibly at the end of his route, pass a street on the left, veer across the yellow line into the opposite lane, stop, then, back up onto a side street, Crestline Road.
"Not only is he crossing the yellow line, but he's backing in to where he's picking up one girl," said Butts.
Butts said he didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but he sent his cell phone video to ABC11 I-Witness to see if the bus was in the wrong.
We asked a spokesperson for Wake County Schools.
"WCPSS thanks the driver who brought this to our attention. WCPSS Transportation will address this with the driver immediately. Our yellow bus driver training includes, 'no backing unless no other option'. Pulling across the center line of a road is never allowable unless making a proper turn to another street. This is obviously a dangerous situation for motorists and the students at the stop," said Renee McCoy, Director of Public Relations for the Wake County Public School System.
Butts said, as a father, he couldn't continue to drive by and say nothing.
"I have two older boys, long out of school, but that could be them," said Butts.
We wanted to give the driver the benefit of the doubt that maybe he or she didn't want the student he picks up to cross the road.
So, we drove down that stretch of Crestline Road, and found there is a smaller - and less busy - side street to turn around, which could be an option for the future.
