I hated school-buses as a kid: they tore me away from my books and my family for a boring day of propaganda. And I hate them as an adult: few things are more frustrating than inching along behind one that’s stopping every few hundred feet to discharge kids so dumbed-down they don’t know enough to stay clear of traffic. Imagine the consequences for a private company that impeded the roads so routinely and insouciantly!
But finally, one such bus and its driver have benefited us by highlighting yet again the State’s hypocrisy—specifically, the hypocrisy of its bully-boys:
Video has surfaced of the Newark[, Ohio] Police Chief blowing through a school bus stop sign. …
Chief Barry Connell was responding to help his officers who were involved in a foot pursuit and struggle with a wanted felon.
…Patty Hughes was behind the wheel of the bus in question. Her camera captured footage as a student exited.
“She was on the last step and I saw out of the corner of my eye this cop go right by. It was an unmarked cruiser. You could see the lights in the back window. No siren, and I beeped at him and he slowed down at the tracks but then kept going. I was like, ‘Really?'” said Hughes.
She took her concern to Newark Police.
“I told him my concern, I told him I had a video. He basically said he’s not interested in seeing the video. And he kept telling me, ‘Oh we can do that. As long as we use due diligence.’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s go with that argument. How do you have due diligence when you’re coming from behind a 60-foot long vehicle where you can’t see the front end of that?’ Where’s their due diligence?”
As always, the cops had an excuse for their excuse: “A police spokesperson says [the chief] believed emergency vehicles were allowed to pass school bus stop signs with caution.” Ahem: did he “cautiously” pass? Since the driver specifies that the chief slowed down only later “at the tracks,” I’d say that exoneration is bogus. Not that cops’ defense of the boss who can make their lives miserable would carry weight anyhow.
“The explanation doesn’t wash with Hughes,” either: “‘As they tell every defendant, ignorance of the law is no excuse.’”
Excellent, Ms. Hughes! Now go find a real job where you aren’t ripping kids from their homes and thrusting them into Leviathan’s maw. And thanks to Mark Higdon for sharing this educational tale with us.
9:05 am on January 7, 2019
