Untitled Document

Stop means stop

The red, octagon-shaped sign's message is simple: STOP. And that message is the same whether on a pole anchored in the ground or attached to the side of a school bus.

Pittsburg's USD 250 usually has between 25 and 30 cited complaints a year against people running the stop signal arm when activated by a school bus, when loading or dropping off students. But this year for the 2005-06 school term, said Fred Andrew, Pittsburg schools director of transportation, USD 250 is already up to 10 citations and it's not even halfway through the school year. Andrew wants to make sure kids are safe when boarding and leaving his school buses and to make certain that happens, people must stop.

Maj. Brent Narges, of the Pittsburg Police Department, wanted to remind everyone that it is the law to come to a complete stop at any stop sign. The law states that the driver of a vehicle "meeting or overtaking" a school bus stopped with flashing red lights and activated stop signal arm must stop before reaching the bus. The vehicle must remain stopped until the school bus starts moving again or the red lights and stop arm are no longer activated. The law is the same for both directions of traffic, meaning everyone stops. If there is a man-made divider, such as a grass or cement median, the oncoming side of traffic is not required to stop.

According to the Pittsburg Police Department, a conviction of the misdemeanor traffic violation carries a fine and court cost of $144.50. The back and front of the school bus is armed with a label warning of the violation and fine.

By law, Andrew said, bus drivers must activate, if possible, the light system within 200 feet of the stop. When the system is first activated, four flashing yellow lights - two in front and back - that flash until the bus comes to a complete stop and the door is opened, which then activates flashing red lights and stop arm. So everyone should have enough time to stop.

Four-lane roads such as Broadway and Rouse streets and U.S. Highway 69 are big problem spots, Andrew said. But only a small percentage of students cross in front of the bus, he said. Drivers try to pick up and unload students on the right-hand side of the road.

It's just not worth the risk of running that stop arm, Andrew said.

"When they run that stop arm, that would be the worst nightmare that the driver and also the person driving the vehicle could go through - to run over a child," Andrew said. "It's the very worst."

While drivers always try to keep the kids on the right side of the road, Andrew said, things happen and can happen quickly. Drivers think that because they don't see students crossing, he said, it means that they can just blow through that sign. Andrew used the example of a child exiting the bus and then darting in front of it because they're chasing a piece of homework that blew away or they see their dog.

Children move so quick, Andrew said, without the bus driver being able to control it.

Andrew also warned that people needed to stop for not only the bigger buses but also the smaller ones. If a smaller bus is pulled into someone's driveway, he said, then drivers aren't required to stop. But if in the street, the same rules apply.

Bus drivers rely on the good judgment of the other drivers, Andrew said, because the bad ones don't get caught every time: they can't. When someone blows that stop arm, he said, the bus driver a lot of times is busy trying to keep the child safe and making sure he or she doesn't get hit.

"The last thing on your mind is getting the license place number down of the car running the stop sign and headed in the opposite direction," Andrew said. The driver must have several pieces of information, including the violating car's license number, a driver description and vehicle description, to be able to file a complaint and have the driver cited. But they get as many as they can, Andrew said.

"They [violators] just drive on through thinking that, 'I'm not going to get caught,'" Andrew said. "But if a piece of paper blew out of that little first-grader's hands and he darted in front of 'em, they wouldn't get over it. The driver wouldn't get over it. The family wouldn't get over losing that child. It would be devastation for everyone."

The Morning Sun, (www.morningsun.net) December 5, 2005