By Kim Hilsenbeck.
Friday marked the end of National School Bus Safety Week. But it shouldn’t mark the end of driving carefully around school buses.
State law prohibits drivers from passing school buses when they are stopped and operating a visual sign, either their stop sign is out and/or their red flashing lights are on.
New legislation by the 83rd Texas Legislature that went into effect in September increased the fine for violating that law to as much as $1,250.
The law says:According to Texas statute, a driver – traveling in either direction – must stop when approaching a school bus that is stopped and operating a visual signal. The driver may not proceed until one of the following occurs: the school bus resumes motion; the operator is signaled by the bus driver to proceed; or the visual signal is no longer activated. If a road is divided only by a left-turning lane, drivers on both sides of the roadway must stop for school buses with alternating red flashing lights activated. However, if the lanes are separated by an intervening space or physical barrier, only motorists going in the same direction as the bus are required to stop. School buses, by law, must stop at all railroad crossings.(Photo by Kim Hilsenbeck) |
In 2012, Texas Highway Patrol troopers issued 449 tickets for passing a stopped school bus. Last year, 840 crashes in Texas involved school buses, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, which tracks traffic crashes. The Texas Education Agency reports that more than 40,000 school buses transport 1.5 million Texas children every school day.
Here in northern Hays County, the stats don’t seem as dire.
Kyle Police Officer Daniel Gooding said he hasn’t written a ticket for passing a bus since 2011. Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd said his department hasn’t written any such tickets in about the same time period.
But Hays CISD bus driver Elmer “Bunky” Garner, who was picking up a load of Hays High School students on a recent Monday morning, said cars pass him while he’s stopped on FM 2770 near Mountain City all the time. He added that it’s often in the early morning hours when he’s driving elementary school students to school.
In an hour-long drive around Kyle last week, Gooding did not observe any drivers passing or attempting to pass a stopped school bus operating a visual sign.
