Driver charged in school bus stop hit-and-run

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A motorist accused of passing a stopped school bus, hitting a student and fleeing last week has turned himself in.

According to the Greensboro Police Department, the hit-and-run incident occurred on Jan. 5 just before 8:30 a.m., when a school bus serving a local high school stopped to pick up three students.

Witnesses told police that a car drove up on the sidewalk to avoid hitting two other cars that had stopped for the bus. The car “brushed up against one of the students,” police reported in a press release. That student sustained a minor leg injury, for which he was treated at a local hospital.

After hitting the student, the motorist fled from the scene, police said.

After a brief investigation and a tip to Crime Stoppers, Greensboro detectives connected 21-year-old Marquise Williams to the hit-and-run.

On Tuesday, a week after the incident, Williams voluntarily surrendered to Greensboro police. He was charged with three felonies: passing a stopped school bus and striking a person, hit-and-run, and possession of a stolen auto. He was also charged with driving with a revoked license, which is a misdemeanor.

Like other states, North Carolina has been grappling with the problem of vehicles illegally passing school buses. In a survey conducted last year, school bus drivers across the state counted 3,117 stop-arm violations in one day.

Starting this month, school bus drivers in North Carolina are required to use hand signals to let riders know when it’s safe to cross the street in front of the bus. The new procedure was spurred by incidents in which five students were injured by motorists passing stopped school buses last year.