Widefield School District 3 reports high number of bus stop-arm violations in first month of new school year
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — In the second year of a new state law mandating when drivers should stop for school buses loading and unloading students, a local school district is already seeing more violators.
Officials at Widefield District 3 told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior that they have 18 confirmed violations of the law in the first month back to school, and believe there are more that haven’t been confirmed.
Jason Schwartz, the district’s transportation director, said that there were ten violations at this time last year.
“I just think that people are in too much of a hurry,” he said.
As The Road Warrior reported last summer when the law took effect, drivers in both directions — behind a school bus or in opposite lanes — are required to stop when a bus has its flashing lights on and its stop-arm extended.
The only exception is when a median or other physical barrier separates opposite traffic lanes.
The law is designed to increase safety for students as they board or depart from school buses.
In a report last fall, The Road Warrior saw numerous violations at a bus stop outside the Elm Crest Mobile Home Park, along southbound Highway 85/87.
However, because the bus stop is on the highway shoulder near the park entrance, many drivers may believe they don’t have to stop.
The Road Warrior saw the same trend at the stop on Monday morning; most of the drivers behind the bus stopped, while most in the opposite direction didn’t.
Many buses have cameras that can record the license plates of violators and turn them over to law enforcement for investigation, but traffic often passes stopped buses so fast that the cameras can’t record the plates.
Violators cited by law enforcement face stiff penalties, such as a mandatory court appearance and losing points off their driver’s license.
Stop-arm violations were also a concern a year before the new law took effect, in Academy District 20.
Schwartz told The Road Warrior in last fall’s report that officials were considering the use of better camera technology to identify violators, but funding to do that is currently unavailable.
A reminder to drivers: The law requires you to stop for buses that are loading and unloading students, especially because kids often have to cross the street in front of the bus to walk home.
Every violation increases the danger of a student being struck, hurt, or killed by a passing vehicle.
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