As the President-elect of our local teacher's union, I had a meeting with our superintendent and school board president yesterday. During our discussion, a situation was discussed that alarms me tremendously. As our busses pick up and drop off students, the flashing red lights are turned on. By law, all traffic is supposed to stop for the safety of the students. We have a part of town where cars are not even slowing down, much less stopping. As this is reported to the local police department, our police have not been willing to cite the violators. They say it is an inconvenience for a busy section of town. This is very disturbingto me, as the law is there to protect the safety of the school children in our town.
As we discussed this, it was brought up that there are other parts of the state that have had the same conflict with local law enforcement. They claim that the students are not at risk, so therefore it is too difficult to enforce. As teachers and parents, I feel it is very important for people to be aware of this issue, and if the law enforcement in your area is not enforcing the law the people of the town need to pressure them to change their ways.
Why is enforcing a LAW an inconvenience? Who did you talk to about this within the police department? Why not go a step further and demand a policeman to watch traffic as buses are picking up students in the mornings and afternoons. I can't even fathom a policeman stating that this is an inconvenience. The safety of our children are at stake. I know for a fact that if this was an issue near our school the police would be there everyday until people learn to STOP when buses have their red lights flashing. For an officer of the law to say that patroling an area where kids are in danger is an inconvenience is unacceptable. I would take this a step further and talk with someone of a higher authority.
ReplyDeleteSince when does law enforcement not want to do their jobs? Like us they are paid with tax payer dollars to provide a specific public service. To me the most important public service a police officer can provide is the safety of our children. I can say that the police in Great Falls are absolutely great about enforcing this policy. Bus drivers write down license plate numbers and the police follow up usually on the same day. The fine is large ($200+) and that has seemed to curb the problem. A few GFPD officers even patrol in front of different school every day on a rotating basis and it gives school officials a good feeling to know they have the backing of the police. In your situation I am very appalled that the police are not being proactive with this issue and I would talk to your city/county commission. Don't stop until the kids are safe!
ReplyDeletecheers,
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The buses here tend to pull all the way off the road in the countryside to let cars pass by without having to stop. In town, I do see cars stopping as the buses have stop signs that automatically extend out from the side. Without that, I think more people would continue.
ReplyDeleteMy first impression of this matter is that if police are saying it's too inconvenient and a busy location, the school district should be finding a safer place to have their daily pick-up and drop off. I'd wouldn't be surprised if the bus driver or transportation department isn't thinking they're more important than the average daily driver and therefore less flexible. They already have kids in the bus and it can easily be used as, "I am driving kids and am more important than anyone else," attitude. There should be a compromise with the county officials and the location in which the buses load. Our district only has a few locations they can go for kids in town. It's up to the families to get their kids safely to those locations. They don't have the time to stop at every home like they did when I grew up in North Dakota. We only had about 20 kids K-12 riding buses at my school. Schools today have more like 50-60 per bus trip and I would hate to be stuck behind a bus that stops 40 times on my way to work. Some bus drivers are simply unreasonable and consider other drivers in my experience. You can have a balance while keeping kids safe.
Have a good weekend.
Randy B.
This is shocking news to me in many ways!! First of all, when I get to a stopped bus I ALWAYS stop (red lights or not). I just want to make sure there are not kids in the area and I would hate to be pulled over for passing when I shouldn't. Second, I can't believe your law enforcement won't do anything about this. They will regret this if a student gets hurt. Do you think your newspaper would write an article about this? Maybe that would stop the cars passing and maybe give the cops a kick in the butt to do their job!
ReplyDeleteDo you know what comes to my mind when I read your blog? Lawsuit, lawsuit, lawsuit if a child is every hurt or killed. Not just against the person driving the car, but against the local police who are not enforcing the law. How can people not stop for a bus while the lights are flashing. It takes a couple of minutes of their time to stop and make sure the children are safe. When I am in hurry,I take an alternative route away from bus routes (on some of our routes, the bus stops at every block for one or two kids). I am going to ask my neighbor who is a police officer how they enfore the law of stopping when the buses lights are flashing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing this to my attention, When my children start to ride the bus, I (like all parents) want them to know that they are also safe at their bus stop.
Sarah