A recent report by the company American Traffic Solutions last year alone nearly 1,400 drivers failed to adequately stop for school buses while they were loading or unloading passengers. That is a surprising statistic for anyone but perhaps most especially parents of school age children.
Now the ATS is trying to turn their report into a call to action. the company is petitioning the state of Arizona to consider installing stop-arm cameras on all school buses in an effort to identify the drivers who carelessly speed past stopped buses. The system works similarly to the way traffic cameras work at intersections. They are set to trigger if a vehicle crosses a certain point. They snap a picture of the driver and license plate number of the vehicle which crosses that point and a citation is automatically generate for the registered owner of that vehicle. Only in the case of stop-arm cameras they would be positioned on the stop-arm deployed by the bus driver when the vehicle makes a stop to load or unload passengers. Also, instead of automatically issuing a ticket each photograph would be evaluated and then a citation mailed separately. The fine for passing a stopped school bus in Arizona ranges between $250-$500 depending on the offense.
Regardless of the fact there is a law preventing it, there certainly is no valid reason for a driver to pass a school buses which loading or unloading children. When it comes to driving hazards a child is perhaps the most unpredictable of all. They might cross behind the bus or in front of the; dart across the street without looking both ways (or either way) and are prone to doing unexpected things “just because.”
For drivers, the responsibility is theirs to be aware of the hazards represented by all things, but perhaps most especially children. Because striking a child at any speed could have deadly consequences.
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