Worrisome situation growing as drivers continue to pass stopped school buses

School buses; the bright yellow, metal behemoths are designed to stand out. We expect that there are children aboard and hope drivers anticipate stops. A frightening rise in the number of reported violations, close calls, and even deaths, however, has law enforcement, transportation directors, and bus companies on high alert.

On October 30, three young siblings were struck and killed, and another injured, while crossing a road in rural Indiana to load their bus. A day later, a nine-year-old in Mississippi, a kindergarten student in Florida, and 11- and 13-year-old brothers in Kentucky were struck and injured. All were crossing a street or highway to a stopped, waiting bus. The next day, November 1, two adults and five children, also in Florida, were hit and injured waiting at a bus stop. The same morning a seven-year old Pennsylvania boy was killed while waiting for his bus at a stop. November 15, a five-year old girl was struck exiting her school bus in Byron, Minn.

While this is a snapshot of a national problem, it’s happens right here in Fillmore County, too. Those who witness it first-hand, from a driver’s perspective, say it’s always been a problem, but the number of distracted, inattentive, and often hurried drivers is skyrocketing.

“You can see their face and eyes, especially from where we sit,” says Harmony Transit Director Mark Scheevel, which serves Fillmore Central School District. “There’s definitely some distracted driving and when they’re meeting the bus, you can look down and see it right on their face. Some are non-attentive drivers and some are bearing straight ahead and won’t look you in the face.”

“This has been kind of a different year,” adds Chad Wangen, Transportation Director for Lanesboro School District. “In a typical calendar year, we see maybe three to five violations. This is the third one I’ve called in,” he says referencing an instance that happened two weeks ago. “One driver went through so fast… we’re seeing more this year and see it happening more on highways.”

Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase feels there’s two words that sum up the root cause: distracted driving. “Distracted driving has increased the dangers of our roads, dangers for our pedestrians, bicyclists, slow moving vehicles, and for our children being transported on school buses. We have been concerned about the dangers of impaired driving and have gone to great lengths to combat this problem and have seen great results, but in my opinion distracted driving dwarfs impaired driving and is even a greater danger. It is taking place all times of the day, by all aged drivers, and on all roads in our county!”

The other key to the puzzle is hurried drivers. “I have had people asking me to have the drivers drive faster than the speed limit because if they get behind the bus they are late for work,” says Mike Bernard, owner of Bernard Bus Service, which serves Chatfield, Mabel-Canton, and Rushford-Peterson School Districts. “I tell them to leave earlier, we depart the shop at the same time every day, adjust your schedule accordingly.”

“It’s a scheduled route and we make stops at the same time each day, within one or two minutes,” adds Wangen. “All they have to do is leave a minute early, but they won’t.”

“I don’t know if it’s something where they didn’t see the kids or not, but I think there’s an ‘all about me’ attitude,’ notes Chatfield Police Chief Shane Fox. “How do you miss a big, yellow school bus with flashing lights? I wish I had an answer.”

“You’ve got the people who do it and say, ‘Don’t tell me what to do,’ and people looking at phones saying, ‘I didn’t even think about it.’ There’s so many reasons. The bulk of people say, ‘Whatever.’ That’s our biggest problem, they don’t think of the consequence,” adds Fox.

Bus drivers are trained for such encounters, through various safety procedures and scenarios. “There is procedure, but nothing is perfect,” says Scheevel. “There isn’t much you can do to prevent a car from coming through, but you can try to prevent an event.”

In Fillmore County, transportation officials say the bulk of incidents are on highways, but it does happen within city limits. “We have reports almost daily of drivers running our stop arms,” says Bernard. “Most take place on the highways, but a lot happen in town and that is usually due to lack of concentration. I am guessing 90% are preoccupied by a cell phone.”

Rushford Police Chief Adam Eide says they see maybe one a year within city limits, typically when a new school year starts. “It takes a while for people to get back into the swing of remembering to stop.” During a road construction detour a few years back though, he recalls ticketing five or six drivers.

Preston Police Chief Matt Schulz notes there’s already been two ticketed within his city this year. “It’s becoming common; consistent,” he says. “We’re try to be more visible and doing distracted driving waves. If you see a school bus with lights on, or a school bus at all, be prepared for the stop arm.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), every state has stop-arm laws and the basics are the same: it is illegal to “pass a school bus while dropping off or picking up passengers, regardless of the direction of approach,” says the organization’s public information. “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 arms indicate the bus has stopped and children are getting on or off. Motorists must stop their cars and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop-arm is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving before they can start driving again.” In Minnesota, state statutes specify vehicles must stop at least 20 feet away from the bus.

Violation of these laws, if cited, results in a misdemeanor punishable by a minimum $500 fine. Passing on the right, door side of the bus or attempting to pass while a child is on the roadway or sidewalk results in a gross misdemeanor and steeper fines. The driver may be arrested if the officer has probable cause to believe the driver has violated either of these within four hours.

To get an idea how often these situations are happening, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services conducts a one-day observance and survey in 38 states. “In the 2018 survey, 108,623 school bus drivers reported that 83,944 vehicles passed their buses illegally on a single day. Throughout a 180-day school year, these sample results alone point to over 15 million violations by private motorists,” says the organization’s report.

This past April, Minnesota’s survey was spearheaded by National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services Director of Pupil Transportation Safety Brian Reu. Of 2,802 bus drivers participated in collecting data, 583 illegal passes were recorded; more than 77% approaching from the front of the bus, and nearly all, 97% occurred on the driver’s side.

Scheevel says the process they’re supposed to follow to report a driver on highways, which changed in 2011, is frustrating. He says they’re instructed to call State Highway Patrol with full plate information only, fill out forms and mail them to the Rochester patrol office.“The process gets complicated and that’s discouraging,” he adds. “Personally, I probably haven’t done enough. This year I’ve put a bunch on because of the rash of accidents that have happened nationally.”

Bernard agrees the process to get drivers ticketed can be difficult. Drivers are busy watching the road and staying aware of their riders’ safety. “Between all of the districts we probably have 200 plus vehicles that are in violation and usually get less than 10% of the license plate numbers.”

Kaase says reports are sporadic. “At times they seem frequent and then, we’ll go for a while without any. I would estimate that violations would be in an area of one to two dozen a year, that we know of.”

“The thing that’s starting to hit home is it’s happening here and more often,” says Wangen. “People just need to be aware. I used to be more lenient, but I’ve got the attitude now, I’m turning them in no matter what. It could be a person’s life.”

Fox points out that violation of stop arm laws is one offense in which you can be ticketed without law enforcement witnessing the violation. “We need the time, place, a good description of driver and vehicle and a plate number,” he says. “We’re fortunate to live in a small area where we have the ability to talk directly to people about it. It’s not cheap. There’s no messing around. It’s a ticket and it’s expensive.”

“I want violations reported with whatever information that can be provided. A partial license plate, description of the vehicle and driver/occupants, and direction of travel; all of this information can aid our deputies in attempting to locate the violator,” stressed Kaase. “The safety of the children being transported is a priority of our office.”

Both the state and bus companies are continuing to look for ways increase awareness. Second stop signs and brighter LED, eight-way lights were added to buses and some buses are now being equipped with cameras. At more than $3,000 each though, not all districts or companies can afford to install them. Bernard says it’s estimated that to equip all of the buses in Minnesota would cost upwards of $1.3 million.

Bernard believes a series of steps might curb the problem. This includes informing drivers of the proper procedure while stopping for school buses, even putting more emphasis on the topic through driver’s education. Upping fines and consequences is another option. Bernard thinks even heavily publishing the details of events, including the violator’s name and the fine imposed, on public media might sway some. Lastly, prosecuting drivers for the violation, even if the vehicle’s owner was not driving. “Write the ticket to the owner, if they don’t like it they should be more selective of who is driving their vehicle,” he adds.

Media and law enforcement campaigns have increased as well. The Minnesota School Bus Operators Association has put forth television commercials and the tail end of this year has seen countless viral videos of near incidents and public service announcements on social media.

“It could be your kid or grandkid. Pay attention and slow down,” cautions Wangen. “If we can get it out there, maybe it’ll stop some people.”

“That’s a 4,000 lb. missile with fuel and everything we love on board. Slow down and pay attention to driving,” adds Eide.

 

In our own backyard

Each transportation director spoken to had at least one instance of a harrowing event.

  • Mike Bernard recalled several. In one, a semi-truck barreled down the road, passing on the door side as children were loading. “The driver saw the truck late and hollered at the kids boarding the bus just before the truck blocked the view of the kids from the driver. The driver did not know whether the kids were under the truck and dead or made it to safety. Thank God the kids noticed the truck and scampered out of the way just in time.”

• Another in Bernard’s memory involved 10-12 students crossing the road and a vehicle approaching, 3/4 mile away. “I was watching, honking, hollering at the kids, and sticking my hand out of the window trying to get the oncoming vehicle to stop. I remember seeing the kid go out of sight just as the car was right beside the bus. The child bounced off of the car door and the driver of the vehicle fled the scene. The driver almost killed a kid and never stopped to take responsibility for his actions,” he says. “One night had 12 vehicles go through the red light all at the same time, the first didn’t stop so neither did the rest.”

• Chad Wangen recalls similar events. “The kid was halfway through the road on a corner and I had to open up the window and yell, ‘Run!’ They slammed on the brakes, screeched, leaving black marks on the road. You never know what could have happened.”

  • Mark Scheevel recounted one, just at the edge of Harmony, where children were exiting to a farmstead on the door side. The driver passed on the door side, from behind. “I just happened to catch them coming in the rear view, stuck my arm out and stopped the kids from exiting the bus. You have to be really aware and really careful letting the kids off.”