A 15-year-old driver has been cited after a child was nearly hit exiting a bus last week.

The teen, whose name has not been released, was ticketed for passing the school bus that was stopped at a residence on Hwy. 136, just east of Bailey Waters Road, the afternoon of Oct. 27.

Authorities said an adult was in the car with the teen driver when she passed the bus.

Dawson County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wooten said the teen must appear before a juvenile court judge.

"By law, officers can write a ticket after the fact when we can identify the driver," he said.

In addition to video cameras on the bus, there were also witnesses that reportedly saw the incident.

"I heard the horns were blowing, and the car ran right past the school bus," said Randell Vaughters, whose niece was waiting for her son at the bus stop and "almost saw her son get run over in front of her."

Angered by the thought, Vaughters said last week was the second time his great nephews, ages eight and six, have almost been hit getting off the bus.

"When you see a school bus, you stop," he said. "People have got to slow down and pay attention. Nothing is that important to risk a child's life like that."

Vaughters, a truck driver, said he'd also like to see additional cameras in school buses that would video cars that pass and instantly send tickets to the drivers.

Dawson County School Superintendent Damon Gibbs said such cameras are typically installed by a third party vendor, though they have been considered.

"Our transportation director, Jim Rich, has contacted at least one of the companies in the past," he said. "[They] didn't feel that Dawson County's fleet would generate enough revenue for them to proceed with the project."

Gibbs described the cameras currently on many local busses as "impressive" and said the system plans to have each bus in the fleet equipped with upgraded camera systems in the near future.

Bus drivers are also required to report incidents in which cars pass them while their stop signs and caution lights are in operation.

That information is immediately shared with the sheriff's office, Gibbs said.