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Exclusive: School Bus Drives On Sidewalk In Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Why would a school bus veer off the road and onto a sidewalk?

A viewer tagged @CBSNewYork in a video posted on Twitter, and we started investigating.

We found a bigger problem in Borough Park.

Neighbors say they're getting trapped by people double parking, and some drivers are going to extremes to get around.

Surveillance video shows a yellow school bus driving on the sidewalk in Brooklyn.

It happened Wednesday morning at 40th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway.

Video shows the bus moving at a good clip as it cuts around double parked cars.

Area residents told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge it's not the first time that's happened.

"Have to find a way to control these reckless drivers, not just let them go back on the road," said Borough Park resident Richard Navaz. "Something has to be done. Someone's going to to get hurt."

It's not just buses using the sidewalk as a shortcut.

Surveillance video shows three more cars mounting the curb to bypass a stuck bus.

A Borough Park resident told Duddridge she's had to climb up on the sidewalk too.

"I saw a big truck over here, and the truck is not going anywhere, so he's trying to back up, and then I went on the sidewalk because I was scared the truck was going to hit me," said Borough Park resident Sissy Padilla.

Some on the block say vehicles driving where pedestrians walk is too dangerous.

"They're not going to see that someone's standing outside the gate. They're in a rush to get to wherever it is they have to go and they're going to hit someone," said Roxana Salazar.

Some trucks and buses squeeze past the double parked cars, but other drivers can't make it. One video shows a man trying to wave a vehicle through, the situation turning people who live in Borough Park into traffic agents.

On alternate side of the street parking days, residents told Duddridge congestion is the worst. They've been calling 311 and their local precinct, but say nothing's being done.

"They come down, traffic enforcement, they'll give them a ticket, but that's it," said Navaz.

City agencies are pointing fingers: The Department of Transportation told Duddridge to talk to the NYPD. The NYPD told her that officers in the area are "aware of the condition" and will be conducting enforcement in the area.

Area residents with concerns are urged to call 311.

But what happens if a fire truck can't get through?

"Well, they have to do something, whatever. It's terrible. It's very bad," Padilla said.

People on the block worry if enforcement doesn't improve soon, someone's going to get hurt.

Some residents want traffic enforcement to tow double parked vehicles instead of ticketing them, hoping that will cut down on the problem.

 

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