UPDATE: The Putnam County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday posted on Facebook that the vehicle and driver from the incident have been identified. The driver has been cited for reckless driving, a misdemeanor.
GREENCASTLE — The video that's prompted concerns in Greencastle on Tuesday shows a truck blowing by a school bus while the stop arm was out. A mother says her first-grade daughter was waiting to board the bus at the time.
"The lights are up, the bus arm is out, and they just blow right past it at high rates of speed," Angel Stidd, a Greencastle parent, said.
Stidd says she thinks the driver of the truck speeding past the bus was going at least 60 to 65 mph. Where the video was taken — along West Walnut Street — the speed limit is only 45 mph.
"They've flipped two times in the last couple months," Stidd said. "We've had vehicles flip right at the bottom of the hill."
Neighbors started taking videos, catching drivers not stopping when the stop arm is out. One time, Kyla Woodall had to step in to protect her daughter physically.
"It looked like it was slowing down, but they weren't going to stop," Woodall said. "Had I not stepped in the middle of the street, it would've hit her because she went ahead and went because the sign was out and she knew it was her time to go."
Deputy David Scott Ducker says people often speed through that Greencastle street. He actually followed the school bus on Tuesday morning and pulled someone over.
"I think one of the biggest issues we find in the morning time is people are late for work, or maybe they're just on the phone," Deputy Ducker said. "I think with the school bus, too - a lot of times - they don't understand just how dangerous it is and the legal ramifications for running a school bus."
The Greencastle Community Schools superintendent told RTV6 they share all incidents and any evidence with the police department, including this one.
Deputy Ducker says parents can count on them to be out more often, following school buses as much as they can to protect their children.
If you see a stop sign out — stop.
