RISING SUN, Md. (WBAL/CNN NEWSOURCE/WKRC) - Two girls narrowly avoided being struck by a pickup truck that sped around a stopped school bus Friday in Rising Sun, Maryland, authorities said.
The incident occurred as a school bus stopped to pick up the girls, ages 7 and 11. Deputies said the bus had its flashing lights activated. Surveillance video obtained from a nearby business shows a Toyota pickup pulling to the right and passing between the bus door and the children before briefly leaving the roadway. Marks on a nearby grass embankment indicate how close the truck came to the girls.
“When I pulled up the cameras, I mean it’s just crazy. That’s all I can say,” said Shawn Kennedy, the father of the 11-year-old.
“It’s very disturbing that somebody doesn’t have the common sense to wait five seconds so kids can get on the bus,” said Brandon Stewart, the father of the 7-year-old.
Cecil County sheriff’s deputies issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for the Toyota pickup.
“This was a very dangerous incident. This person did this at a high speed,” said Capt. Michael Holmes of the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office. “We don’t know why the person chose to pass the school bus in that manner.”
Kennedy said his daughter later told him, “Yes, but dad, if I took one or two more steps, that truck would have hit me.”
School counselors met with the girls following the incident, their fathers said. The investigation remains ongoing.