Godfriaux pushes for bus stop signs after two near accidents
Melissa Godfriaux watched from the front porch to make sure her children got on the school bus safely on the morning of Sept. 11. Just as the bus arrived, the screeching sound of brakes sent her sprinting down her driveway.
A quarry truck came speeding around the curve in front of her family’s home on Veribest Road and swerved into the opposite lane for about 150 feet to avoid slamming into the bus that had stopped to pick up her boys.
“You can’t imagine the horror as a parent to witness a truck like that, going that fast, fishtailing in front of you, and smoke from its brakes so thick I couldn’t see the bus,” Godfriaux said.
With decades of experience behind the wheel, bus driver Teresa Saxon accelerated the school bus and guided it into a culvert on the side of the road.
All the children were safe.
“My family and I are grateful every day for her superior driving skills and her dedication to the safety of the children she drives to and from school daily,” Godfriaux said.
That was the second time in two years that a quarry truck had nearly collided with a school bus in front of her house, so Godfriaux was determined to demand change this time.
She voiced her concerns at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Sept. 11, leading Oglethorpe County School System Transportation Director Zach Holtzclaw and Commission Chair Jay Paul to take action, with help from Adam Nation of the Public Works Department.
Two temporary bus stop signs are now in place near Godfriaux’s home. Nation said four 30-by-30-inch signs have been ordered from Georgia Correctional Industries. The cost was $218.
“The commissioner called me,” Holtzclaw said. “As soon as I called Mr. Nation and went over to talk with him, he had one of his guys out in the trailer looking for signs. It was a 30-minute turnaround, and they were on top of it.”
Godfriaux said a similar scenario had occurred the second week of school in 2021. She said she and Saxon asked for signs to be put up after that incident, but because she didn’t “stay on top of it like a pitbull, it was ignored or forgotten.”
“When it happened this time, and it was so much worse than two years ago, I decided to put my own signs up,” she said. “One said ‘30+ children were almost killed here today.’ Two others said ‘Please slow down.’ Two said ‘Children live here.’ They were all down my fence line.”
Responding with urgency was important to county leaders because of the recent pattern of quarry truck accidents in the county.
“We just had a rock truck turn over on Lexington-Carlton Road and damage the road,” Nation said. “There's actually been three accidents on that road in the last year and a half or so. Luckily, nobody's been hurt.”
He said speeding is a factor in most of these incidents.
Since the signs were placed, Godfriaux said several truck drivers have honked and waved in acknowledgment of the message to slow down.
Though she’s grateful for the progress, she said she doesn’t think the signs are the ultimate solution.
“The signs are too far away from our house one way and too deep in the curve the other way,” Godfriaux said. “We would like to have another option to call awareness to the bus stop, as well as the speed limit reduced.”
To ensure the safety of all bus riders in Oglethorpe County, Godfriaux has also proposed a comprehensive safety evaluation at all county bus stops.
“I’m not speaking out just for my children’s sake,” she said. “People need to seriously slow down through here. If we can’t all come to a resolution and work together to prevent an unspeakable tragedy involving these trucks or other speeders, I will continue to post signs.”