From the school bus video.

Media release: Bartow County School Transportation System bus driver Shannon Banks was operating her bus (no. 198) on Young Road near Cartersville in Bartow County. As Ms. Banks approached a 15-year-old student for pickup near 189 Young Road, she activated the bus caution lights and when the bus stopped, its red lights and stop sign system activated. This bus was also equipped with a video recording system which recorded the incident.

A vehicle going the opposite direction stopped for the bus at a safe distance and the student began to cross the road to enter the bus. Ms. Banks observed a vehicle quickly approaching from behind the bus and that the vehicle was going to pass the bus into the path of the student. Ms. Banks immediately began to blow the bus horn in long blasts signaling the student who was able to quickly get in front of the bus as the offender passed and kept going.

Ms. Banks notified her supervisors who contacted the sheriff’s office. An investigation was immediately launched and several bus drivers reported seeing the distinctive older truck in the area of Road no. 3 South at a residence. Deputies and investigators located the truck at 126 Road No. 3 South. Subsequent interviews and vehicle inspections resulted in the arrest this morning of 42-year-old Blake Tyson Lockwood of the same address.

Lockwood was booked into the Bartow County Adult Detention Center on charges of Reckless Driving, Tampering with Evidence, Failure to Maintain Lane, Failure to Stop for School Bus Loading/Unloading, Failure to Obey Stop Sign, Driving Unsafe Vehicle, Removing Tag to Conceal Identity of Vehicle, and Improper Right Turn.

Sheriff Clark Millsap recognizes that the actions of Ms. Banks 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.

Bus violations in Bartow County. Source: Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Rogers,

Here is the data from August, however, it is less than normal since it was not a full month of school bus violations as of yet:

Starting on August 8, 2019 and Ending on August 27, 2019:

Total Violations Reviewed: 44

Violations Approved: 28

Violations Dismissed (no clear violation ): 16

I started writing school bus tickets on October 16, 2012, and as of date here are the following numbers since that day:

Total Violations: 5,489

Violations Approved: 3,822

Violations Dismissed: 1,667

There are currently 18 buses outfitted with cameras in which I can review violations and issue / dismiss citations.

If you would like more detailed violations statistics, such as violations by year, I can reach out to my contact at Red Flex and have the software engineers pull some specific details. As far as I know, the violations seem to drop each year, or at the very least the number of recidivist violators do. I hope this was helpful.

Respectfully, Lt. Matthew Beal

Uniform Patrol Division