YouTube | Norwich City School District
A school bus driver’s quick reflexes likely saved a 13-year-old boy’s life when a motorist failed to stop as required.
Samantha Call, a bus driver for the Norwich City School District in upstate New York, became a hero last month. On April 26, her bus was stopped with the stop arm out and red lights flashing.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop one selfish driver from passing illegally just as a young boy was exiting the bus.
Luckily for the boy, Call was quick to notice the speeding white sedan. Shouting the boy’s name, she abruptly reached out and grabbed him from behind to stop him from leaving.
Exasperated, she honked her horn at the illegally passing car, while a girl in the front seat commended her. “That was a good grab,” the girl said.
The student, Matthew Squires, told NBC2, “The last thing I remember was getting yanked back and the car flying by.”
His mother, Christina Beardsley, also praised Call for her quick thinking.
“I cried, I honestly cried,” said Beardsley. “If she hadn’t been so vigilant and looking behind her bus, because no one really thinks of someone coming on the door-side of the bus”
She added, “I’m just really grateful that she has quick reflexes and she was able to grab him in time.”
In the vast majority of situations, drivers are required by law to stop for school buses that are also stopped. However, an estimated 50,000 motorists pass illegally every single day.
The laws vary from state to state, but on undivided highways, you must stop for school buses unloading children.
Call was notably shaken by the incident, saying, “all I could think of was, what if I didn’t get him?”
She also added that this sort of behavior from motorists needs to stop. “People have to pay attention to this,” she said. “I’m so glad I was able to send him home to his mom, cause I don’t know if I could have gotten back on that bus had I not been able to. I don’t think I could ever touch a school bus again.”
