A car stopped in the road as a school bus pulled up for a student in Franklin, Massachusetts. The Tesla behind it made a different choice.
Video from the bus shows the Tesla moving across the double yellow line, going around the stopped car, and continuing past the bus as a student headed into the street on Tuesday morning.
The Franklin High School freshman made it safely to the other side. Her father, Kenny Isidoro, told WCVB that watching the encounter unfold made his “heart just drop.”
Franklin Police are now trying to identify the person behind the wheel. The incident happened on Chestnut Street at Griffin Road, and video distributed by police came from Holmes Busing and Franklin Public Schools.
Going Around
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The sequence starts with the school bus approaching its stop. A red car traveling in the opposite direction comes to a halt.
The Tesla behind that car does not.
It moves left across the center lines and passes the red vehicle, putting it on the side of the road occupied by the approaching bus. At roughly the same time, the student is coming from a driveway and moving toward the street.
Isidoro told WCVB that his daughter “narrowly missed” the passing car. She was not injured.
CBS Boston reported that Franklin Police posted the footage on Facebook and asked whether anyone recognized the Tesla. The department also took a pointed swipe at the driver’s apparent unwillingness to wait a few seconds for the bus stop to clear.
Police received the footage from the school district and bus company, CBS reported.
A Familiar Problem
For Isidoro, the Tesla was not his first concern about traffic on Chestnut Street.
He told WCVB that motorists routinely speed along the road, which has a 40 mph limit. After Tuesday’s close call, he contacted the police chief and elected officials about possible changes, including a lower speed limit, signs warning drivers about the bus stop and a speed-feedback device.
His daughter, a freshman at Franklin High School, was doing well after the encounter.
Franklin Police were still seeking information that could identify the Tesla driver. The town’s official directory identifies Sgt. Connor Crosman as a member of the Police Department’s Community Safety Unit; police directed tips about the incident to Crosman at [ccrosman@franklinma.gov](mailto:ccrosman@franklinma.gov) or 508-528-2723.