Three children were struck and injured by passing vehicles by their bus stops in the past two weeks, including a Florida boy who died last week. As “National School Bus Safety Week” approaches, the call to raise awareness of student pedestrian safety is becoming more urgent.
Redflex Traffic Systems is joining in the industry-wide event and reminding drivers about the consequences of illegally passing school buses. National School Bus Safety Week, recognized from Oct. 20 to 24, aims to educate students and the general public about various aspects of school bus safety.
“Every day, impatient and risky drivers rush past school buses while children are loading and unloading. They don’t realize that taking a couple minutes off their commute unnecessarily puts a child’s life in danger,” said Thomas O’Connor, president of Redflex Student Guardian, the student safety division of Redflex. “National School Bus Safety Week serves as a reminder for all of us to slow down and act cautiously. One injury or death is simply one too many.”
More and more school districts nationwide are adopting stop-arm enforcement programs that involve mounting video cameras on buses’ stop signs to detect and deter motorists from illegally passing a stopped school bus. The Redflex Student Guardian is helping to protect children at school bus stops in Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
View the STN Webinar “School Bus Stop Arm Enforcement”
O’Connor emphasized that the entire community benefits because the presence of the camera system acts as a deterrent to potential violators and the technology serves as a “police force multiplier,” allowing officers to refocus their energies on other high-priority tasks while still ensuring the safety of school bus routes. In addition, the community outreach surrounding the installation of a photo enforcement system raises awareness about all facets of school bus safety.
The company said Student Guardian can be operated at no cost to taxpayers, with no up-front capital investment for cities, counties or districts, because the program is fully funded by violations.
Redflex tracked six accidents in September and October resulting from reckless and distracted driving in:
- West Monroe, Louisiana: An elementary student was taken to the ER after a four-wheeler drove around a stopped school bus at excessive speed and ran over the boy while he was boarding his bus.
- Sims, North Carolina: Two students were injured while boarding their school bus after being struck by an SUV.
- Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina: An 11-year-old boy was injured when crossing the street to board his stopped school bus.
- Lawtey, Florida: Seven children and their bus driver were taken to a local hospital when the driver of a tractor-trailer failed to stop for the school bus while it was unloading children.
- Needville, Texas: An 8-year-old boy was struck by a car while crossing the street to board his school bus.
- Valrico, Florida: An 11-year-old girl was struck by a car while she was boarding her school bus.
