Passing a bus with its red lights flashing could cost more than what you can find in your wallet.
MD of Bonnyville peace officers have been receiving numerous complaints from bus drivers and parents regarding vehicles passing school buses with their red lights flashing.
This maneuver could end in disaster, warns Amanda Wildman, communications officer for the Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD).
“The red flashing lights on the school bus are just like a red street light. You can't just decide to drive through because you're too impatient to wait. Someone could get hurt, and in the case of a school bus, the risk of hurting others is greater, because it could potentially be a pedestrian.”
The pedestrians she is referring to are students travelling too and from school.
For Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) they have witnessed near misses, where vehicles passing a bus making a drop-off or pick-up have nearly hit a child.
“There are kids getting off of the bus. Drivers don't know the direction the children are going, whether they're going on the right side or across the road in front of the bus,” expressed Matt Richter, director of transportation for NLPS.
Unfortunately, this isn't a problem only local school bus drivers are facing.
“It's a common age-old problem in the school bus industry, unfortunately,” Richter noted.
What has him baffled is why drivers do it in the first place.
“I'm truly at a loss. We've had video footage, and it has been as bright as the day can be. There is no logic, no rhyme, and no reason. I just have no idea.”
Whether drivers come from the front or the back of the bus is no excuse, he added, because the lights are visible from both ends.
Even though there is no record of a child ever being hit by a passing vehicle, the mere thought has parents, bus drivers, and even students feeling uneasy.
“It's scary for everyone. It's scary for the kids, it's scary for the bus driver, and the parents,” expressed Richter.
In some cases, certain drivers are repeat offenders.
Chris Garner, director of public safety for the MD of Bonnyville said for those who are consistently impatient, peace officers have their ways of finding out who they are.
“Sometimes it happens on a frequent occurrence. For example, when buses are at a certain location or stop, it happens at the same time every morning because they run on a schedule. It's not hard for us to go out there and deal with it because it tends to happen about the same time every day, and usually it's the same car over and over again,” he said.
Fines can range anywhere from $400 to $500, depending on the charge, but that's not the ultimate price a driver could pay.
“There's a child's life in your hands, literally,” Richter emphasized.
What it all boils down to is patience, and for those who don't want to wait, Garner recommends changing their routine.
“Be patient. Let the bus do their thing and pick the kids up. There may be an opportunity later on in the trip for you to get ahead of the bus. Really, the bottom line is, the people who are being impatient should just try and adjust the time of day they're leaving, because the bus is working on a schedule, so they're generally there about the same time every day.”
