VIDEO: Close call for Montgomery County student after car flies by stopped school bus
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - After a close call in Silver Spring, Montgomery County police are urging drivers to slow down and be more alert near school buses.
Investigators released a video of the incident Tuesday morning.
Captured by a school bus-mounted camera earlier this month, the video shows a school bus stopped in the 13800 block of Old Columbia Pike. The bus's stop sign with flashing lights is activated, but when a student attempts to cross the busy street, a car blows by without appearing to even slow down at all.
That's horrible," parent Fatumata Kamara said when shown the video.
"Why didn't he stop for the kid?" added former MCPS student Abby Hill.
Police told FOX 5 that cars failing to stop for school buses is an ongoing problem, especially this early in the school year.
"Luckily, the student was pretty aware of their surroundings, as we saw, or that could've been very unfortunate," said MCPD Capt. Warren Jensen.
He added that driving by a stopped school bus is a $250 fine if a driver is caught by an automated camera, whereas if a driver is caught by a police officer, the fine can be upwards of $570 and a driver can get points on their license too.
Car collides with Montgomery County school bus with 30 students onboard: police
A school bus carrying 30 students and a car collided in Montgomery County Thursday afternoon.
Tuesday evening in Silver Spring, several parents also questioned why there's a bus stop on such a busy road at all.
While FOX 5 had hoped to ask Montgomery County Public Schools officials for comment, they did not immediately respond to multiple requests.
Police said the driver in the video has been cited and mailed a fine of $250.