Truck misses stopped school bus, hits van while drivers speed by

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A stopped Brunswick County school bus and a crash that could have turned deadly in an instant. An incident that was all caught on camera and a story that’s only on WWAY.

Dramatic video shows a truck running off the road to avoid hitting the bus and instead hits a van with a child inside.

The school bus video shows Sheila Willis parked in her driveway at the school bus stop on Highway 74 in Brunswick County.

Another camera shows a truck veering off the road to avoid hitting the bus.

What you don’t see the actual impact of the truck hitting the van, but you can see where the van ends up in the woods.

“I just remember saying oh my God, oh my God,” Willis said.

Meanwhile, multiple cars continue to pass the stopped school bus.

“I’m still terrified that somebody is going to run off the road and next time they aren’t going to hit a vehicle they’re going to hit a child,” Willis said.

Even after the crash, drivers continued to pass the stopped bus which Willis said highlights an ongoing problem.

“At least two to three times a week the bus either the middle school bus or the elementary bus will be completely stopped and people still continue to fly by on the left hand lane,” Willis said.

Passing a stopped school bus is illegal and carries a hefty fine. Even so, one bus driver said she sees people disregarding the law frequently.

“When they see that stop sign out s-t-o-p, still spells stop and that means stop. You know just stop,” bus driver June Strickland said.

Willis is still shaken up but hopes others will learn from this video.

“It could have been much worse. Five seconds either way I would have been getting out of my van walking towards the bus, five seconds sooner and he probably would have ran over me. Five seconds later I would have been holding my son’s hand with my back to traffic and we would have never seen him coming,” Willis said.

Frank Medlen, the driver of the truck, was charged with a school bus violation and careless and reckless driving. Willis says she wants to work with NCDOT to have a sign put up alerting drivers there is a bus stop ahead.