A school bus driver in Massachusetts was trying to be creative to make sure distracted drivers don't go flying by her bus when she stopped to let her students on and off.
At first, police supported her creativity, but later, found out there's a clear law against her methods.
It’s not uncommon for cars to ignore a stopped school bus, sometimes leading to accidents where a student is hit and thrown to the ground.
"Any time that happens it is a a tragic situation," said Sutton Police Department Lt. David Perry.
The bus driver had the ingenious idea to to stop the bus diagonally across both lanes of traffic with its flashing lights on and stop sign out in an effort to bring attention to drivers.
"[They were] trying to ensure the safety of the children and took it upon themselves to pull the bus diagonally completely across the road to obstruct the other lane of travel," said Perry.
The idea ignited a heated debate on social media.
"[It] prevents the cars coming from the other way," said one Sutton resident. "By doing it there, if a car is coming from that direction it is going to hit her, so I believe she is putting people in danger."
Sutton police initially sided with the bus driver, saying that, if a driver can safely figure out a way to curb distracted drivers from flying by the bus, then they support it.
However, after applauding the driver for thinking outside the box, police realized that what she was doing was, in fact, illegal.
"There was a lot of debate on it when it started to get posted on social media," said Perry. "So we reviewed the laws, and there is a specific statue that says the bus drivers have to stay to the far to side of the road."
Police have since talked to the bus company and have all agreed that the driver will no longer use this strategy.
At the same time, police are reminding careless drivers that speeding past a school bus is a $250 ticket.
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