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Highway Patrol starts school bus enforcement effort

By T&D staff report

With many schools around the state opening, the S.C. Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol has begun increased enforcement on school bus routes around the state, which will continue until September.

For the third year, the Highway Patrol will partner with the South Carolina Department of Education to identify areas of the state with a large number of school bus stop arm violations or other reported problems on school bus routes. The Highway Patrol will again use a number of enforcement methods to detect violations including placing troopers on selected buses, having troopers shadow buses on their routes and the use of special enforcement vehicles such as motorcycles and unmarked patrol cars to monitor bus routes.

"This is the time of year when we rely on motorists to increase their vigilance in residential areas, on school bus routes and in school zones," Highway Patrol Col. Russell Roark said. "Children and traffic are always a volatile combination because children tend toward impulsive decisions, which can be deadly. Drivers should not assume child pedestrians will make responsible, mature decisions."

Throughout the year, especially at the start of school, children need to be taught how to get on and off the school bus safely.

It is also important for motorists to learn the "flashing signal light system" that school bus drivers use to alert motorists that they are going to stop to load or unload students. Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.

Red flashing lights and extended stop arm indicate that the bus has stopped and that children are getting on or off. Motorists must stop their cars and wait until the red flashing lights are turned off, the stop arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving before they start driving again.

The law regarding when to stop for a school bus changed last August. Under the new law, children will no longer cross multi-lane highways to board the bus and the law no longer requires drivers on a highway with two or more lanes on each side to stop when traveling in the opposing direction of the bus.

Motorists must always stop when they are traveling behind a bus with flashing amber or red lights. Motorists who approach a stopped school bus with flashing red lights from the opposite direction must stop if they are on a two-lane road.

If motorists are on a four-lane (or more) highway or private road and meet a stopped school bus, they do not have to stop. However, drivers should slow down and proceed with caution. After stopping for a stopped school bus, drivers must not proceed until the bus resumes motion or the flashing red lights have been turned off.

Motorists should observe traffic safety rules around school buses. First and foremost, they must know and understand the school bus laws in their state. In particular, they must be aware that it is illegal in all 50 states to pass a school bus that has stopped to load or unload students. The fine for passing a stopped school bus can be as much as $1,000 and up to 30 days in jail for a first offense. Motorists should also observe the following traffic safety rules:

  • When backing out of a driveway or leaving a garage, watch out for children walking to the bus stop or walking or bicycling to school.

  • When driving in neighborhoods and especially in school zones, watch out for young people who may be thinking about getting to school, but may not be thinking about getting there safely.

  • Slow down. Watch for children walking in the street, especially where there are no sidewalks. Watch for children playing and gathering near bus stops.

  • Be alert and ready to stop. Children arriving late for the bus may dart into the street without looking for traffic.

    Because getting on and off the bus is the most dangerous part of the school bus ride, the loading and unloading area is called the "Danger Zone." The "Danger Zone" is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in the most danger of not being seen by the driver. This area extends 10 feet in front of the bus where the driver may be too high to see a child, 10 feet on either side of the bus where a child may be in the driver's blind spot and the area behind the school bus.

    Pedestrian fatalities while loading and unloading school buses account for about three times as many school bus-related fatalities when compared to school bus occupant fatalities. Ninety-five percent of the respondents in a recent telephone survey ranked this as the most dangerous of all illegal or unsafe driving practices, according to the Highway Patrol.

    In fact, collisions involving motorists who illegally passed a stopped school bus accounted for almost one-fourth of the pedestrian fatalities in school bus-related crashes between 1989 and 1999.

    For more information on school bus safety enforcement efforts in your area, contact your local community relations officer.