Study: drivers not following school bus stop laws
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2013
- Minnesota law requires drivers to stop when a school bus flashes its red lights and lowers the stop arm. But a recent study shows more drivers are breaking that law by illegally passing stopped school buses.
"When you see those yellow lights coming on that's when you want to slow down and wait for the bus to make its complete stop," said Troy Schreifels, manager with First Student bus company.
Last week, First Student bus drivers in the Osseo and Anoka Hennepin School Districts kept track of drivers who passed stopped school buses. Schreifels said he wasn't surprised by the result.
"In just one week we had 140 at our location in Champlin and Brooklyn Park alone," he said.
In March, the Minnesota State Patrol held a one-day study to see just how many motorists were illegally passing school buses. More than 3,000 school bus drivers participated in the study. The State Patrol recorded 530 violations in that one day.
Some of those drivers passed the buses on the right, which also against the law.
"if you pass on the right, that's where the students are getting off the bus, that's where they're most vulnerable," said Schreifels.
Lt. Brian Reu with the Minnesota State Patrol says most of the school bus violations are committed by distracted drivers.
"A lot of times when we do stop a violator and ask them, 'what happened?' They'll say they didn't see bus or the flashing lights."
In Minnesota there hasn't been crashes with serious injuries or fatalities as a result of motorists ignoring bus stop arms, but officials don't want to press their luck.
"It is a matter of time before something tragic does happen," said Lt. Reu.
The fine for illegally passing a stopped school bus is at least $300.
Sonya Goins, reporting
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12 News is on Comcast cable channel 12 in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and includes the cities Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.
How their drivers don’t see big yellow bus
I live in West Melbourne Florida and watch as school buses slowly make their way along a heavily traveled 4-lane highway, stopping at every side street to pick up one kid after deploying the "stop signs" on the side of the bus. What needs to happen for the safety of the children and for consideration of motorists is for the buses to pull off the main highway onto side streets to pick up the kiddies and the problem is solved - PERIOD! Also, consolidation of stops by requiring the kiddies to walk a little bit to one location for pickup/dropoff is another great idea but neither of these is new. When I attended school in the 60's that's the way it was done and we rarely ever heard of injuries or death of students because of that practice.
I live in Georgia and every time my bus stops cars pass and I don't appreciate that but some buses stop lights are orange and not red
You don't stop the bus and leave enough room for a car to pass on the right, and let kids off. You are supposed to stop the bus where a car can't get through on the right..
Hard to miss a big yellow bus!
$1000 fine points on license and insurance rate hike
Btw school bus should pull to the right and student should be taught to wait till bus leaves and then to cross street legally. There is no stop sign on school bus in Europe and somehow students are doing just fine. On wait there is not even a school bus in Europe, it's just a regular public transportation bus/train etc.
George, it doesn't matter where the school bus stops. It is the law that drivers should not pass a school bus when the stop signal is on. In addition, the only time the student is safe to cross the street is when the school bus is still present and the stop sign is on.
+Michael Lawn You are totally wrong. But what do you expect of someone who lives in a country where they drive on the wrong side of the street. LOL
The idea is for kids to cross with the aid of the school bus. That's for safety reasons. You don't let a little kid cross the street on his own. That is the whole point of the bus stopping traffic.
3vino1
Hahaha, how else do kids Learn to cross the street safely? We in USA baby our kids way too much. Go to Europe and many Latin country's and you will find that in most of them this kids "grade 5+" are cleaning their own classrooms them self, taking public bus home, crossing the street them self safely etc.
Michael Lawn As kids mature and get older, they learn a lot of things and that includes crossing the street safely.
When I was in school, many moons ago, I used to walk home at 5 years old and continued to walk home as I got older for several blocks. I went to school in the 50's and 60's. We did have crossing guards at the school's busy intersections, but we were on own after that. It is still like that even in large cities, providing that the areas that these kids have to walk, are not considered hazardous or if they live two miles or more from the school. Yes, there are many kids that do walk home.
Today, I drive a school bus in a large city. Many of the streets are busy and dangerous. Like I said, there are kids who do walk home, everyday, but there are many who have to ride the bus. Obviously, the laws that have to be observed were not just pulled out of somebody's ass. There has to have been studies done that led to these school bus laws. It would be crazy to have a law that only apply sometimes. There would be a lot of confusion. So they provide these fit all safety measures,
But if you are truly against these laws, then you should appeal to your law makers, and tell them that these laws are stupid. Go to the city council meetings, and tell them to get rid of crossing guards too, especially at busy intersections. In the meantime, you should study these laws, and find out when you don't have to stop for a school bus. It could save you a lot of time from your busy schedule.
3vino1
Come to big city, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami etc and you will find that school bus is rarely used and even if it is, it just get ignored.
California the fine is closer to $1000.00. for the first ticket.
THE FINE FOR PASSING A SCHOOL BUS IN ALL STATES SHOULD BE NOTHING LESS THAN $500.00. BUT FOR FIRST TIME OFFENDERS WE'LL LEAVE THAT UP TO THE JUDGE WHAT THE FINE WILL BE.
Sometimes I feel awkward about this law because nowadays it's not safe. Stupid drivers everywhere. They can kill children, and some kid's are also not being careful, too. I know school buses use those stop signs and stuff, so kids can cross the street, but what i see nowadays is school buses stopping at places without crosswalks. I do sometimes see school buses stop at places with crosswalks, but I'm talking about stops without crosswalks. So kids are technically jaywalking at the time.
Just get left side doors their a thing in nyc
for all of ya'll that think it's a stuid law i have good quistion for you would you think the same way if you had a kid that had walk across that traffic twice a day 5 days a week just asking.
Actually it should be $1000. And if the person is a parent, have CPS remove their kid(s).
You're a tight ass aren't u?
I never stop for those stupid stop signs.
How many kids have you hit?
Joseph Runner
I lost count :D
Michael Lawn you are required by law to stop for stop school buses with flashing red lights and stop sign if you think those stop signs are stupid then you should n,t be driving
Stephen Sullivan nobody asked you
solution: RED LIGHT CAMARA on buses. problem solved.
26
Cooooooooooooooool