It’s a problem that has grown out of control: motorists who either ignore school buses stopped to pick up or drop off students or those motorists who are completely ignorant of the law.
Roughly half of the students killed each year at school bus stops nationwide fall victim to other vehicles who fail to heed school bus traffic controls, namely the extendable stop arm and flashing red lights. STN contributor and expert witness Ned Einstein (and others) have offered up one reason, that many motorists simply don’t know how to proceed when they come across school buses receiving or dispatching students. The problem has risen to a head in Virginia.
There, in Albemarle County in the northern part of the state, school bus drivers, parents and local law enforcement are joining forces to put an end to this dangerous roadway practice. Josh Davis, the director of transportation at Albemarle County Public Schools, told the Daily Progress in Charlottesville that illegal drive bys increase when as winter thaws into spring. In fact, a third of the school year’s total violations occur in March and April.
So the district’s school buses are being equipped with GPS that reports when and where the vehicles make stops and if the federally-required flashing reds and stop arm are activated to back up illegal passing reports submitted to the police by school drivers.
Albemarle police Cpl. Sean C. Hackney said many motorists he has pulled over have said, “Well, I didn’t know what to do. It happened too fast.”
Technology certainly is available to try and curb the actions of these motorists, including a rise in stop arm video cameras that capture the offender’s driver license and, in some cases, the driver himself or herself. This summer at the STN EXPO, Jeff Tsai of the Institute of Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University will present findings from studies that have taken place in several states and school districts on the effectiveness of such programs.
But more important to stopping these passings are understanding the reasons why drivers do it in the first place. As Cpl. Hackney told the Daily Progress, many drivers simply don’t know what to do when they come upon a school bus. Just this morning, on my way to work, I encountered a school bus stopped on the other side of the street, one I often see picking up school children. I know to proceed with caution because the driver doesn’t cross the kids, so she only activates the bus’ flashing yellow lights and doesn’t extend the stop arm. But, I see other motorists slam on their brakes, or at least slow down to a touch-and-go on the gas pedal. I can just tell they’re second-guessing themselves as whether to proceed or stop.
This demonstrates the crux of the problem. When I took driver’s ed, there was plenty of discussion on what to do when emergency vehicles activate their sirens (not that many drivers anymore heed them) and which vehicle has the right of way at unsignalized intersections (again, not that many drivers do the correct thing). But certainly there was no mention in my course about school bus drivers, and in speaking with friends and family members, they never received school bus training, either.
Additionally, when we all see stop signs or flashing red lights, they mean to us that we’re supposed to stop, look both ways and then proceed. Few people actually come to complete stops anymore, but we know the intent of the law. So, logically, motorists who don’t know the law will behave in the same manner when they come upon a school bus with it’s flashing reds and the stop arm. This can have deadly consequences.
Increasing student ridership, attempting to secure more funding for transportation and curing all of the other ills that adversely affect school bus operations certainly are important. But public outreach continues to be one of the industry’s few failures. Many transportation departments also administer or assist with high school driver’s ed curriculum. Are school districts ingraining school bus laws into their own student’s heads so that, when they become drivers, they’ll know how to respond? To me, this seems to be the least costly, most efficient and truly most educational way to change driver behavior.
