RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A child was almost hit by an SUV that did not stop for a Richmond school bus earlier this month, as shown in newly released video.
The incident happened on Tuesday, May 9 at 7:45 p.m. GMT (about 2:45 p.m. local time) at the 2900 block of Richmond Highway. Video shows a school bus that is stopped with an extended stop sign and flashing red lights. Another car stops for the bus, and just as a child begins to cross the street, a black SUV changes lanes to go around the stopped vehicles and narrowly avoids hitting the child. The SUV does not appear to slow down.
The video was filmed by a BusPatrol school bus stop-arm camera. BusPatrol is self-described as a company that provides school bus safety programs across Virginia. Richmond Public Schools (RPS) partnered with BusPatrol in 2017, according to the company.
RPS confirmed that the school was aware of the incident and provided a statement through BusPatrol.
“The top priority of RPS is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff, and families. Ensuring the secure transportation of our students to and from school every day is a collaborative effort that involves the entire community, and it begins with the commitment of each driver to follow the rules on the road including stopping for our school buses,” RPS Chief Operations Officer Dana Fox said. “All drivers must do their part by obeying transportation laws such as yielding to pedestrians and stopping for stopped school buses.”
Richmond Police is also aware of the incident and is investigating the video.
Virginia law requires drivers in all directions to stop for stopped school buses with flashing red lights and an extended stop sign and to remain stopped until all passengers coming on or off the bus are clear and the bus is moving again.
