DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. -- A Douglasville driver admits he passed a school bus that had stopped to drop off children – a violation that happens all too often across metro Atlanta.
But in this case, the violator is a Douglas County School Board member.
Devetrion Caldwell pleaded no contest and agreed to pay a fine of $653.38 for an incident last month when he passed a school bus with children on it.
It happened on Feb. 1, on Hospital Drive, not far from the Douglas County Courthouse. The school bus had just stopped near an apartment complex to drop off children. But Caldwell drove right past the school bus, even though the bus driver had extended the stop sign.
Caldwell’s actions aren’t unique in the metro area. It is a frequent violation that drivers commit across metro Atlanta and the rest of the state.
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The Douglas County School System is in the process of equipping its buses with cameras to catch violators in the act, just as other metro Atlanta school systems have been doing.
In Caldwell’s case, though, no cameras were needed because a Douglasville Police officer witnessed him passing the stopped school bus.
11Alive reached out to his attorney, Olivia Smith, who gave a brief statement, saying in part, “Mr. Caldwell admits that he made a mistake and takes full responsibility for it. He takes this charge very seriously and plans on also taking a defensive driving class.”
Caldwell, Smith said, now intends to continue the work he was elected to do.
