Traffic blasting past stopped school bus captured on home video
Couple hopes sharing the video on Facebook and with RCMP will encourage drivers to stop
A video shot by a Brookfield, P.E.I, man showing traffic zooming past a school bus that has stopped to pick up his grandchildren has garnered a lot of attention on social media and has been taken to the RCMP.
Claude McNeill took the video Monday morning outside his house on Route 2 where his grandchildren, ages 7 and 14, are picked up by the bus every morning.
All school year, he and his wife Madeline McNeill have seen vehicles stream past the bus while it's stopped with its lights flashing and stop sign out.
At Madeline's suggestion, Claude shot the video yesterday morning in hopes of alerting the RCMP and the public.
"I encouraged him to do so, because I told him, if he didn't take it to the RCMP and have it looked at, I would do it myself," said Madeline.
RCMP have looked at the video but she doesn't know if they made a copy of it, she said.
It's like people don't want to wait those few seconds for those little ones to get on the bus.- Madeline McNeill
Madeline said she wasn't expecting such a huge response on Facebook.
"But I'm glad it did in one sense because maybe people will be alert."
She also hopes if drivers actually see their car in the video they will slow down and stop for the bus.
"Because the vehicles that were on that video, they go by here every day."
The video shows a black pickup truck that stopped when the driver saw the bus coming.
"But the other cars were coming right out past him and past the bus, speeding up the road. So there's no respect right there for the bus driver or the safety of the kids. It could be a child getting on the bus, crossing the road too. Where does that leave the child?"
Madeline said speed seems to be more of a problem this year on Route 2.
"When the buses are stopped, it's like people don't want to wait those few seconds for those little ones to get on the bus or the bus to leave. They've got to zoom by it. And the lights were flashing on the bus," she said.
"Highway 2, it's a busy road. And the safety of the children is a big concern here. Not just here, everywhere."
She would like to see signs posted to alert drivers that buses stop for children along the highway. She also thinks every school bus in the province should be equipped with video cameras to capture licence plate numbers.
"My message to the drivers is slow down, stop when you see a bus with the lights flashing, then continue on when the bus leaves."