MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Educators, parents and police can't stress it enough -- do not pass a stopped school bus, because if you do the consequences may be deadly.
Shocking new numbers from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction detail the daily dangers children face when they get on and off of the school bus.
This spring, Mecklenburg County bus drivers reported numbers to the school districts on how many vehicles passed a stopped school bus -- just for one day.
During the one-day count of stop-arm violations, 409 drivers passed stopped school buses in the morning.
11 passed stopped buses in the afternoon.
502 passed the stopped buses during after school drop-offs.
That’s a total of 922 violations in a single day.
Numbers like these are why Catawba, Lancaster, and other school districts nationwide have added stop-arm cameras to catch, fine, and even prosecute drivers that illegally pass stopped school buses.
In North Carolina, there are more than 3,000 of these violations each year.
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