‘Absolutely terrified’:18-wheeler stops car from allegedly passing Odenville school bus
Clip from the video{ }Katie Thornburg filmed on her cell phone. (Katie Thornburg){p}{/p}
What Katie Thornburg saw Tuesday morning while driving in Odenville made her pull out her phone and hit record.
WBMA
“I was on my way driving to work and I pull up behind a line of traffic stopping for a school bus that’s about six cars ahead of me letting kids onto the school bus and I see like a black car jet out into the other lane, it looks like to pass the school bus” she said.
Thornburg said the black car wasn’t going fast but she didn’t know what was going to happen next and that concerned her.
She said “absolutely terrified. I actually closed my eyes for a second because I did not want to see the children getting run over and as soon as I open back up the 18-wheeler is Infront of the black car preventing them from going any father.”
That is when she hit record. The nine second video she shot on her cell phone was after the black car had stopped. She said, no one was injured and there wasn’t and accident.
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“As a schoolteacher and a mom who puts her kids on the bus every single day, I wanted to get this on camera to show people the absolute safety that has to be taken around our children getting on busses every single day” she added “to the 18-wheeler driver thank you. A huge amount of our thanks goes out to him for protecting these school children from a potential accident.”
I talked with Odenville Police Chief Glenn Walton after the incident. He was not aware of it but said these incidents happen in their community just like any other community and you can report them to the Odenville Police Department.
School bus safety graphic posted by the Odenville Police Department (Children’s of Alabama){{ }}{p}{/p}
He said it’s important to have patience when waiting on a bus to load and unload children.
The Odenville Police Department made a Facebook post shortly later. I’ve quoted the post in its entirely below:
The Odenville Police Department was made aware of an incident this morning where a car attempted to pass a stopped School bus loading students. A driver of a commercial truck blocked this driver possibly preventing students from being harmed. We would like to remind all drivers to be patient and not put our children or other drivers in harm’s way. We want to remind all of the laws of Alabama and the penalties.
Alabama law forbids drivers from passing a stopped school – or church – bus in almost every case. Drivers must remain stopped until the bus resumes motion.
Drivers are required to stop when meeting or following a school bus stopped on a two-lane road or four to six lane undivided highway.
Drivers are not required to stop on a divided highway having four or more lanes if two of the lanes allow for traffic to flow in the other direction.
Simply put – if it’s a highway divided only by a turn lane or no other barrier, traffic in both directions must stop.
If it’s a four or six-lane highway with a barrier or unpaved area between the directional lanes, cars approaching the bus in the opposite direction aren’t required to stop, but are advised to use caution.
Fines:
First offense for illegally passing a stopped bus is $150 to $300.
Second offense could result in a fine of $300 to $500 and suspension of driver’s license for 30 days, and 100 hours of community service.
Third offense could result in a fine of up to $1,000, license suspension of 90 days, and 200 hours of community service.
Fourth offense is a felony, punishable by a fine of up to $3,000, and a one-year license suspension.
USEFUL LINKS:
Section 32-5A-154 — Overtaking and passing school bus or church bus(2006)
2016 Code of Alabama- School Bus Safety Act
I did talk with the driver of that 18-wheeler. He didn’t want to go on camera but was humble about the experience. He told me he’s just glad he was able to help.
