Cabarrus County school bus caught on camera not using flashing lights, stop arm

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — Cabarrus County Schools is launching an investigation after Channel 9 showed officials a video of one school bus not using its flashing lights or stop arm while letting a little girl off the bus.

Channel 9 started pushing for answers last week after viewer Chris Yergeau sent the video to the newsroom. Cabarrus County Schools confirmed Monday that the bus is one of their own.

Yergeau took the video from his dashboard camera. The video shows him getting closer to a school bus in the opposite lane. The bus is seen stopping in the video but there are no flashing lights on the bus and the stop arm never comes out, which is supposed to happen when students are getting off the bus.

Yergeau slowed down when the bus stopped and a student runs across the road.

“As I was getting closer, I noticed he wasn't moving, but I didn't notice a stop arm or anything,” Yergeau said. “I happened to look over to the left and I noticed the door was open and that's why I stopped."

(Click PLAY to watch bus stop with no lights or stop arm)

He said he decided to reach out to Channel 9 because he’s worried that this could be happening at other bus stops and putting students in danger.

“I figured if there was some sort of technical error, you know, he’d at least open the window and put his arm out or make sure that I was completely stopped before he’d even allow the student to get off the bus, whereas, she just came running out,” Yergeau said.

Parents told Channel 9 they want the school to get to bottom of it before it happens again.

"I think that's terrible. How would you know a kid was going to get off the bus,?” Caitlin Gottsabend. “They have protocol and they need to follow it. Stop signs and the lights, but there was nothing in that video, and that's insane. I'm speechless, just speechless."

The Cabarrus County school board vice chair said the incident is being investigated and school leaders will interview the bus driver.

The vice chair of the board of education said that student safety is a top priority.

She said they will review tapes and interview the driver, and expect to have a full report in a week.

Channel 9 checked to see what district bus drivers are trained to do.

In a 2015 state bus driver presentation on the district's website, Channel 9 found that bus drivers are taught to activate warning lights 5-10 seconds before stopping, and they are supposed to make sure the stop arm is fully extended.

Finally, they have to do one last check to make sure traffic has stopped before letting children off the bus.

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