CARTERSVILLE, GA — A bus driver was recognized Thursday for possibly saving a student from serious injury by a reckless driver, officials say. Shannon Banks, a bus driver with the Bartow County School System, was picking up students around 7 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, when a man in a pickup drove past the bus, which had its stop sign extended.
The man “blew past the stop sign and almost hit a child,” said Alisha Evans, the Bartow County School System’s communications director. The video, below, shows Banks honked her horn to alert the girl, who then avoided being hit.
In the video, caught on the bus’ surveillance system, the student is seen crossing the street and is missed by the pickup, reportedly driven by 42-year-old Blake Lockwood, by just a couple feet. She is in disbelief as she continues to get on the bus.
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The next day, Banks recognized the same pickup, got the vehicle information and reported it to her supervisors, who notified the sheriff’s office.
Lockwood, of Cartersville, was charged with:
See the video below:
Sheriff Clark Millsap scheduled a conference Thursday to commend Banks, whose actions “resulted in the student quickly moving out of the path of the truck possibly saving her from serious injury. She is recognized with a letter from Sheriff Millsap thanking her for her quick actions.”
Internal documents provided to Patch by the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office says that between Aug. 8 and Aug. 27 this year, there have been 28 approved similar school bus violations.
In total, since Oct. 16, 2012, Lt. Matthew Beal of the Uniform Patrol Division has approved 3,822 school bus violations, the document says.
See Shannon Banks’ full recognition below:
Bartow County Sheriff Clark Millsap recognizes Bartow County School Bus Driver Shannon Banks with a letter of commendation for her quick-thinking actions that saved a 15-year-old student from being hit by a negligent driver.
Seven years on the job, and Ms. Banks, a mother of four, never had to act as fast as she did on August 20. Just after 7 a.m. Ms. Banks was picking up children on Young Road in the Mission Road area, when she noticed a vehicle quickly approach her bus from behind. Ms. Banks immediately started blowing her horn, but despite that, the caution lights and active stop sign system on the bus, the driver went around the bus and nearly struck a 15-year-old girl.
Following protocol, Ms. Banks notified her supervisors, who then contacted the sheriff’s office. An investigation was launched following that phone call and the suspect was apprehended after several bus drivers reported seeing the distinctive older vehicle at a residence in the area of Road #3 South.
“I truly believe that if Ms. Banks hadn’t blown the bus horn, alerting the child, this story could have had a very different outcome,” says Sheriff Millsap.
The Bartow County School System is proud to have Ms. Banks, a quick, sharp-witted bus driver who cares about all Bartow County children on bus #198, not just her own.
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