Dear Driver of a White Honda Pilot Who Went Around My Daughter's Stopped School Bus this Morning,

I don't know if you were aware, but going around a school bus that is picking up children is illegal.

According to in.gov: State law requires motorists to stop when a school bus is picking up or dropping off children. Watch for school buses with their stop arm extended and red lights flashing, which means STOP, not proceed with caution!

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Every morning, I take my daughter to the end of the neighborhood where we wait for the school bus. I walk her across a 4-way stop. There isn't much traffic around our neighborhood and I hold her hand.

We are no strangers to people going around her bus. It happened a few times last year. In fact, Sgt. Todd Ringle has posted to his Twitter multiple times about giving people tickets for going around stopped buses that were PICKING UP CHILDREN. But, this morning, I was surprised that it happened again on our street.

 

In the four-way stop, this person completely disregarded the stop arm and went the opposite direction past us. I assume he or she saw my daughter and I out of harm's way and decided that they couldn't wait the ONE MINUTE it takes us to get her on the bus. What they didn't realize is that other people who have missed the bus or need to get their kids on early will also stop at this intersection and run up to the bus from behind.

So, what's the big deal? No one was hurt, right? Kids DO get hurt. In a span of three days last year, five children died in school bus related accidents. Guess how many of those deaths were preventable... Go on, guess. ALL FIVE OF THEM.  

Sgt. Todd Ringle @ISPEvansville tweeted, "On April 24 school bus drivers logged every stop arm violation throughout the state of Indiana. Unfortunately, 3,077 motorists disregarded the stop arm in one single day. Totally unacceptable! It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure they stop for school buses." Eighty-one of those vehicles were in Evansville. 

I sincerely hope that school buses of the future are equipped with cameras to record license plates and hit motorists like this one who decided children aren't worth a minute of their time with a hefty ticket. Earlier in the year, "Senate Bill 2, was approved. It gives school corporations and private educational institutions the ability to contract with privately owned camera companies to install cameras on the outside of buses. Some Indiana school corporations have already begun installing the cameras - but they don't come without a price. CBS4Indy reported, Lebanon Schools became one of the first districts in the state to fully implement stop arm cameras when they outfitted all 50 of their buses last fall, at a cost of $44,000."

Know how we can avoid this huge cost to the tax payer? It's easy! In the future, if you are considering going around a school bus, I know your life is super busy but would you please wait a moment for children to safely board the bus?

 

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