Gwinnett County

Bus driver moved, retrained over video of running stop signs

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County school bus driver was on a different route Monday after administrators found he needed more training and a supervisor to look over his shoulder.

The decision came after complaints from a man who lives along the driver’s usual route.

Todd Stein said the driver routinely rolled through the stop sign near his home, so he set up a camera and a cardboard cutout of a child to see how the driver reacted.

Todd Stein says even a cardboard cutout of a child didn't stop the bus driver from running the stop sign.

Several other drivers stopped to look at the cutout, but Stein says "Stan," as he called it, didn't even faze the bus driver.

“The typical reaction was to stop and point at it. Some people kind of got freaked out because they thought it was a real kid,” he said.

The surveillance video Stein posted on YouTube, appears to show the driver of Bus 9235 again and again rolling through the intersection with a busload of kids.

“If someone would have stopped, they would have noticed it. If this were a real kid, he'd be dead,” Stein said.

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After the recent school bus accident in Chattanooga where six children were killed, Stein says he decided Stan wasn't enough of a deterrent so he put together a video and posted it.

“I started compiling the clips for a while but it didn’t really hit home until that tragedy in Tennessee,” he said.

The video soon ended up in the hands of the Gwinnett County School District’s transportation department. The department moved the driver to a different route, ordered additional training and now has a supervisor ride along on the bus. A spokesperson said they had not received any complaints about the driver but took the video and immediately began an investigation.

“It’s not just about the people on the bus, it’s also about the people crossing the street,” Stein said.

Stein doesn't have any children on the bus, but told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas he feels it's up to everyone to keep an eye on the drivers.

“I don't know what this guy's driving is like elsewhere, but judging from this one corner it's probably a good idea to supervise,” he said.

Stein said he takes Stan to the stop sign every once in awhile just as a reminder to drivers about the sign and need to stop.