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LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. (CBS) — The rules of the road are meant to protect our kids when commuting to and from school – so if a school bus has a stop sign out on a two-lane road, you are to stop.
But a north suburban mom said the driver of a utility truck did not do that when her student came home – and as CBS 2’s Marie Saavedra reported Monday night, that mom also has video to prove it.
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School districts always stress safety on buses, but this story is about safety outside of the school district.
“My daughter takes the school bus to and from school, and she was on her way home from school when I was waiting outside for her,” said Linda Caldwell.
Ring camera video shows Caldwell at the end of her Lincolnshire driveway two weeks ago, when she witnessed what the video also documents. The bus had its stop sign arm out, but the driver of a white ComEd truck did not obey.
“It appeared to me the driver gave it a thought, and then actually, unfortunately, drove around the bus,” Caldwell said.
And the school bus driver made it known that he saw that illegal act.
“He actually honked the horn to alert the driver that a child was getting off the bus, even though the stop sign was out; the lights were flashing,” Caldwell said.
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Caldwell decided she wanted to let ComEd know about this. She sent the company a picture she had of the truck with an identifying number on it, and even a photo of the driver. But she said the initial response she received from the company wasn’t up to snuff.
“It wasn’t an auto-reply, but it was kind of a pretty standard response – and I understood that,” Caldwell said.
She kept reaching out, telling a supervisor she didn’t want anyone fired, but hoped that driver would get some safety training.
“To me, it didn’t appear to me that anything that specific was going on, and I just wanted to make sure that they really did take the complaint seriously,” Caldwell said.
We contacted ComEd, and the company said its drivers are required to know and comply with all driving regulations – like stopping when a bus’s stop sign is out. The incident is under investigation.
After our phone call, ComEd’s director of safety reached out to Caldwell, promising administrative action. And that’s all she wanted – accountability for keeping kids safe.
“I mean, those trucks are really large and really heavy. Winter is coming soon, and I think it’s important that we’re just extra-aware of safety,” Caldwell said, “and I wanted to make sure they pay a little bit more attention.”
Source: CBS Chicago
