CHARLOTTE, N.C. — School buses carry precious cargo. Yet every year in North Carolina, Highway Patrol says 3,100 cars pass a stopped school bus.
NBC Charlotte has showed multiple incidents where children are hit by a moving vehicle while trying to cross the road.
“I've seen it myself, and it's scary,” Audrey Francis said.
Some families don’t have a choice to opt out of using the bus system. About 25 million students ride the bus every school day. This week NC Highway Patrol launched their campaign Operation Stop Arm to help promote school bus safety ahead of National School Busy Safety week starting October 21.
Troopers posted a YouTube video with important reminders for drivers, including a reminder that when you see a bus stop, both sides of the road must stop. The only time that rule doesn’t apply is on divided highways with a median or a road with four or more lanes in addition to a center turn lane.
Troopers are riding on buses this week across the state to monitor the stop zones and are ticketing violators they see.
