HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - Dashcam video captured the moment a Homestead man swerved off the road to avoid a collision with a school bus carrying children with special needs, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage to his vehicle.
Andrew Babeu said he was driving to work along Palm Drive near Southwest 162nd Avenue when a Franmar Bus Company vehicle, identified as Bus 39, pulled out into his lane.
“Honestly, it was really, really fast,” Babeu said. “I was here in the right lane; I noticed the bus started to creep out towards the median. I thought they were going to stop like they normally would, and then they came into my lane. I realized that if I didn’t swerve, I would have hit the bus, so I swerved over, hit this curb—you can see kind of where it took a chunk out—and went into this ditch on the side of the road here.”
The maneuver wound up damaging his tire and frame. He called police and said a responding officer told him a unit would be dispatched to locate the driver, but he has not received an update.
The soon-to-be father said the incident was especially alarming because of the children on board.
“I mean, my heart dropped. I had to pull over because I was shaking,” he said. “That’s what kind of escalated the situation a little bit more for me. It’s like, when I see all these kids, I was like, ‘Wait a second, she just put all these kids in danger.’ And I kind of imagined in the future, what if my kid was on that bus? I would never want my kid to be driven by somebody willing to do something that reckless.”
Babeu reached out to the bus company for compensation, but said they denied responsibility.
“It’s not the money for my loss of work or the day off or anything like that the tow truck expenses or anything, but they told me there was nothing they were going to do because they didn’t see any fault in the driver,” he said.
Franmar Bus Company, which transports children with special needs, has received similar complaints from other drivers in the past. Online reviews cite concerns about reckless driving and safety violations.
One person wrote, “Driver 06 completely jumped across four lanes, cutting off two cars and almost causing an accident.”
Another person wrote about the driver they interacted with, “Kept weaving in and out in front of cars, never using any signals. Also, when dropping children off, none of the flashing lights or signs went on.”
Another person complained about having to veer off the road to avoid a collision, saying the bus “ran [me] off the road. I had to stop on my brakes really hard.”
Mothers in the area reacted to the video of the near nightmare.
“I’d be so angry and I’d want blood,” said Nylasia Alphonso.
She said she was mostly frustrated for the special needs children on board.
“I feel really bad for those kids and justice needs to be served. That’s unacceptable. It’s really sad.”
Babeu said that as he waits on whether the bus company will compensate him for the thousands in car damage to his truck, he hopes the children on board remain safe.
“It’s really unacceptable. Honestly, it’s unacceptable,” Andrew said. “I would never want my kid to be driven by someone that’s doing something that reckless. Honestly, I just want the kids riding on the bus to be safe. After that, whatever happens, I’ll let God take that.”
A company spokesperson told 7News they are reviewing the incident.
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