Video shows driver nearly hitting 2 students crossing NC road to board their bus
N.C. Highway Patrol troopers on Friday seized a car that was shown on video nearly hitting two students as they crossed an Iredell County road to board their bus Thursday.
The car was found just before 5 p.m., Observer news partner WSOC reported. It wasn‘t immediately clear if the car had been abandoned. No arrest was reported.
The children’s mother told the station a guardian angel was watching over them Thursday morning.
Screams from students on the bus can be heard in video released by the Iredell-Statesville Schools as the driver speeds past the stopped vehicle on two-lane Old Mountain Road in the Statesville area. In the video, the driver of the speeding vehicle also blares its horn.
“The video will shake you to your core,” Iredell-Statesville officials said in a statement that included a link to the video.
The driver passed two cars whose drivers stopped behind the bus, school officials said.
The bus had flashing red lights on and its stop arm extended, according to the Iredell-Statesville statement. The incident happened about 6:15 a.m., officials said.
School officials didn’t identify which school the students attend.
The Highway Patrol identified the car as a light-colored Kia Soul with black wheels, according to the Iredell-Statesville Schools. Kia Soul is a subcompact SUV.
Troopers didn’t say how far beyond the 45 mph limit the driver may have been going.
When a school bus has its red flashing lights on and its stop arms extended, students are either getting off or about to board, according to the school system statement.
“We want to remind our community to slow down and pay attention,” according to the statement. “Driving distracted is not worth someone’s life.“
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 1:12 PM.