If the bright yellow doesn’t capture careful attention, the stop sign and flashing lights should.
And yet many drivers still illegally pass a school bus as it stops to pick up or drop off children.
School Bus Safety Week is Oct. 20-24. The awareness effort, which runs the third week of October each year, aims to remind the public about the importance of school bus safety. This year’s theme is, “At my stop, you stop!”
Drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus when it has its stop-arm out are a perennial problem.
A one-day data collection on May 1 yielded 1,678 instances statewide in which drivers passed buses that had their stop sign out, a 10.2 percent increase from 2013. One reason for the increase is likely because more districts participated in the reporting effort.
“On the other hand, every violation is a potential accident that can harm a student,” state schools Superintendent Randy Dorn said in a statement. “I urge all drivers to respect all traffic laws.”
Of particular concern, he said, were the 66 instances of vehicles passing buses on the right — the side on which students enter the bus.
In Snohomish County, drivers in nine school districts participated in the May count, reporting 202 instances of drivers ignoring school bus stop signals. That’s a 63 percent increase over 2013, when drivers in seven districts reported 124 instances.
Locally, violations ranged from a high of 69 motorists illegally passing a school bus in the Everett School District, which contracts with Durham School Services, to zero violations noted by Darrington School District drivers.
A state law passed in 2011 gives districts the authority to put cameras on buses, similar to the red light cameras installed at intersections, which would allow violators to be ticketed.
Violations are treated like a parking infraction but carry a hefty fine of up to $394 — double the fine for infractions in a school zone.
School districts can affix the special cameras on any or all buses in their fleet only after a public vote by the school board.
So far, only the Highline and Bethel school districts are believed to have gone through the process and added the special cameras, said Nathan Olson, a spokesman for the state superintendent’s office.
No Snohomish County district has done so, although the Everett School District has discussed the possibility.
School districts frequently use cameras on school buses in other ways.
The Marysville School District, for example, has several buses with a four-camera system, including a dash view.
“Our goal is to have (similar internal) cameras installed on all buses by the end of the year,” said Jodi Runyon, who works in the superintendent’s office.
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