School Buses
Here is a topic that effects every community and should be of particular interest to all residents.
When I witness this type of behavior my blood boils. What is going to have to happen in order to have safety laws enforced. A tragedy?
The Maryland State Police has given $10,000 to the Howard County Police Department for enforcement efforts in this area. Fines for violating School Bus laws are $550.00. Based upon reports by just one bus driver in Howard County he has witnessed 150 such violations since schools opened in August. That amounts ot $82,500 in fines. I think a $550.00 fine is stiff enough, but if it isn't enforced what is the point. Speaking of points - all Maryland State Law ascribes to such violators is 3 points. That is not enough.
The Howard County Times published a letter from a school bus driver in Howard County who has documented 150 incidents of people ignoring school bus red lights. Some of the violations have been brazen. Ignorance is no excuse. If you see a school bus proceed with caution. If you see a school bus with yellow lights - stop anyway and don't wait for the red lights.
So, tell me, what happened to the $10K and how is it being used?
Should video cameras be placed on school buses? If so what should they be used for? To catch these careless/selfish people? Fine them? Enforcement?
When I witness this type of behavior my blood boils. What is going to have to happen in order to have safety laws enforced. A tragedy?
The Maryland State Police has given $10,000 to the Howard County Police Department for enforcement efforts in this area. Fines for violating School Bus laws are $550.00. Based upon reports by just one bus driver in Howard County he has witnessed 150 such violations since schools opened in August. That amounts ot $82,500 in fines. I think a $550.00 fine is stiff enough, but if it isn't enforced what is the point. Speaking of points - all Maryland State Law ascribes to such violators is 3 points. That is not enough.
The Howard County Times published a letter from a school bus driver in Howard County who has documented 150 incidents of people ignoring school bus red lights. Some of the violations have been brazen. Ignorance is no excuse. If you see a school bus proceed with caution. If you see a school bus with yellow lights - stop anyway and don't wait for the red lights.
Make your officials enforce laws on school bus lights
I drive a school bus in Columbia. The first day of school was Aug. 29. In the ensuing 101 school days through Feb. 9, 150 drivers have run my red lights while I was picking up the children of your community. It has not been limited to a single type of driver. Men, women, teens, older drivers and commercial vehicles have all been involved. There has even been a vehicle with an FOP tag run my lights.
It has happened on heavily traveled roads as well as in neighborhoods. Last year, one person crossed a double yellow line, passed six vehicles and my bus as my red lights were flashing because she was more important than your children's safety.
I talk with my fellow drivers, and while none have kept a running count, they also have many problems with drivers running their lights. I am just one bus, multiply what has occurred around my bus by the number of buses in Howard County and there is a huge problem in Howard County.
You need to contact the county executive, the school board and the police department and have the law dealing with stopped school buses enforced strictly.
Just over a month ago, there was well-deserved outrage in Columbia at a school bus driver who put children off the bus at a place other than the correct stop. Will there be outrage at 150 drivers running a single school bus' red lights? I can only hope there will be.
Ken Boyer
Pasadena, Md.
So, tell me, what happened to the $10K and how is it being used?
Should video cameras be placed on school buses? If so what should they be used for? To catch these careless/selfish people? Fine them? Enforcement?
posted by hocoblog at 9:55 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I agree with you and never pass buses myself despite the fact that it can sometimes slow me down in the morning if I don't manage to beat the bus. One thing I wish, however, is that whoever lays out the bus stops used some common sense. I live at the end of a long 1/2 mile street. In the morning, the bus normally drives to the end of the street, turns around, and then picks up the students on the way out at five different spots. If you get stuck behind the bus, it can take close to five minutes to go the 1/2 mile due to all the stopping. By the time the bus makes it to the end of the street, there can be six or seven cars stuck behind the bus.
Why can't the bus stops be on the opposite side of the street so the students are picked up before the bus turns around at the end of the street? This would allow commuters leaving in the morning to avoid being stuck behind a frequently stopping bus, or at most be stopped a single time when the bus is stopped on the opposite side of the street. This would help avoid even the thought of someone passing a stopped bus because they might be in a hurry knowing this would be the single time they would be required to stop. In my experience, there are so few cars coming into the neighborhood at that time of the morning that if the bus picked up the students coming into the neighborhood, it would make it easier on everyone. Students live on both sides of the street, so crossing the road for the students is not really an issue and the road isn't that heavily travelled to begin with where crossing the road is really a danger at all.
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