A mother and her young daughter had a close call as the girl was getting off the school bus last Friday in Millbury, Massachusetts.
Dashcam footage shows an SUV quickly approaching as they crossed Riverlin Street in front of the bus. That vehicle did not stop.
"I heard a very loud beep and stopped just in time to see a car whizzing right past us," said Ashley Makridakis, who was crossing with her first-grade daughter, Lyla.
"The car went by and we almost got hit," said 7-year-old Lyla.
The mother and daughter are shaken up, but they weren't injured, and they say they have Lyla's bus driver, Steve, to thank.
"He just was white as a ghost and he just looked at me and he was like, 'on the phone,'" Makridakis said.
Millbury Police Chief Donald Desorcy says authorities don't know if the driver was texting behind the wheel, but he says that driver was certainly distracted to have driven past the large yellow bus' flashing red lights.
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And while they couldn't get a license plate number, they believe the vehicle was a 2007 or 2008 Buick Rendezvous.
"We have a pretty good idea, the focus is narrowing down, so you might as well come in while you have the opportunity to come in and make it right," said Desorcy.
Lyla and her mom have a message for that driver.
"Don't text and drive," Lyla said.
"I just want them to know what they almost did, they literally almost wiped out half of our family, by something stupid and reckless," added Makridakis.
The chief says the driver would likely face citations for failing to yield for a school bus and distracted driving.
