Miraculous ending for a student after driver ignores school bus stop sign

BELLS, Tenn. — Investigators are asking for help following what could have been a fatal incident involving a local student. What happens next has investigators asking for the public’s help and it was all ‘caught on camera’.

On February 9, around 4:59 in the afternoon a Crockett County school bus was dropping off students after the end of the school day. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, as a teenager was stepping off of the bus at her stop. Seconds later ,a 53-foot tractor trailer passed the school bus on the shoulder of Highway 412 in Bells, in the Herndon Drive area at approximately 50 to 60 mph.

“I think if the student would’ve taken another step that we would’ve been working a fatal crash instead of just this incident that happened. Luckily the student was able to step back and avoid being struck,” said Trooper Patrick Dwyer, with the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

There is a Tennessee law that covers people passing school buses called “overtaking school busses“. It means when a school bus is stopped and the lights are flashing, drivers are to treat it as a regular stop sign even on a four lane highway. Fines range up to $1,000 and are punishable by jail time.

If a student is struck as a result… It then becomes a ‘Class E’ felony with potential prison time.

“We actually have troopers that are designated solely on school bus safety alone. They do school bus inspections and when they’re not doing inspections they will pick a certain bus of the day, and they’ll follow that school bus around of their route to try to ensure nobody passes them,” said Trooper Dwyer.

Dwyer says every resource readily available has been used to track down the driver responsible.

“We have slowed down the cameras. THP and Homeland have contacted every camera on 412 to try to get a better look at the vehicle,” said Phillip Pratt, Director of Schools for Crockett County.

“Every one of our bus stops are approved and designated by the highway patrol department, so that was a legal bus stop. He was supposed to be in that lane, and he had both stop signs out. Our driver did everything he was supposed to,” said Pratt.

Crockett County authorities have since ramped up their presence in that area. Trooper Dwyer says distracted drivers seem to be an ongoing issue specifically with cellphone’s.

Pratt tells us over the past few years they’ve had a dozen incidents of vehicles passing stopped school busses. If you were a witness to this incident call the Crockett County Sheriff’s Department at 731-696-2104, or dial *847 to speak directly to THP dispatch.