Neighbors in Elk Ridge, Utah, are calling one of their school bus drivers a hero following an extremely close call at a local bus stop.
A driver who failed to pay attention to a school bus stop sign might have injured or killed a little girl if it had not been for the quick thinking of a bus driver named Curtis Going, KSL reported Wednesday.
For the past six years, Going has not grown tired of rising early to his alarm.
“It was supposed to be a temp job for me,” Going said, chuckling.
He works for the Nebo School District and enjoys getting to know the children.
“The kids are amazing. They really are. They’re a lot smarter thank [sic] you think,” he noted, adding, “But yet they tell some funny stories that come from home whether it’s embarrassing or not.”
Meanwhile, an incident that occurred recently has stayed with him.
The story involved both a student who had stepped off his bus and the driver of a silver vehicle who apparently ignored the red lights and stop sign extending from the bus.
“She’s getting ready to cross the road and I look over in my mirror and I see this car coming up pretty quick and I realize he’s not stopping,” he recalled.
Going immediately stuck his arms out the driver’s side window and also honked the horn.
Thankfully, the honk caused the girl to jump backwards and miss the car by mere inches.
“It was a close call. Maybe too close,” Going noted.
The car swerved but kept traveling down the road.
The following day, neighbors presented Going with a huge show of thanks.
“I put it on our community page, and we had 30-40 people out here with a great big sign, ‘you’re our hero,'” the child’s mother, Allison Dawn, said. “He saved my daughter’s life.”
Going was simply relieved the girl was not hurt, stating, “Everything turned out OK.”
The Utah Department of Public Safety’s website urged drivers to watch for children, slow down, and be prepared to stop when they see a school bus.
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