A brief video released to media shows a near miss with a school bus near Campsall Road before the Fort Steele Hill.  RCMP is looking for the driver of a dark coloured vehicle, believed to be a SUV.

On February 23, Cranbrook RCMP was notified of a close call between a school bus and an SUV that had occurred around 8 a.m.. The bus had just picked up students on the roadway and was beginning to get up to speed. Video from the bus shows a small SUV go over the centre line, narrowly missing a big collision with the bus.

(Editor’s note: shortly after initially publishing this story, RCMP reported back to note the time stamp on the bus camera was off by an hour so the time of the incident was closer to 8 a.m., as opposed to 7 a.m. as first reported.)

“It is a miracle that no one was injured in this incident. The SUV appears to make limited contact with the bus before it corrects itself and gets into the proper lane,” said Cst Katie Forgeron, spokesperson with the RCMP. “It is incidents like this that remind us of the realities that bus drivers and students on those busses face every day.”

Cranbrook RCMP is searching for anyone who might have been in the area, or who might have dash camera video of the area leading up to and after the incident between the SUV and the school bus. Anyone who might have information about the near collision is asked to contact the Cranbrook RCMP at 250-489-3471 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

“The RCMP is also still receiving complaints of vehicles continuing to drive when the amber lights are flashing on the school bus, instead of slowing down to wait the two or three minutes it takes for kids to get safely on and off the bus,” added Cst Forgeron. “When drivers see the amber flashing lights they should start to stop, knowing that the red lights are coming next.”

East Kootenay Traffic Services, along with the Cranbrook RCMP, have made it a priority to follow busses in recent weeks.

Officers are on bus routes with the highest amount of drivers ignoring the red flashing lights and driving by, seemingly unaware of the danger they are putting children and bus drivers in, Cst. Forgeron said.

Lead image: A freeze frame of the video shows the vehicle coming within inches of sideswiping the school bus. Image and Video courtesy RCMP

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