Bus scofflaws beware: Police are looking for you

When a school bus approaches a stop, it puts on its flashing yellow lights so that drivers can prepare. Then, when it stops, the lights go red and a “stop” sign folds out from the side of the bus. Drivers in both direction are required by state law to come to a stop until the bus driver turns off the red lights. The whole stop takes anywhere from 20 to 40 seconds, and every licensed driver ought to know of their obligation in such a circumstance.

Yet, every day, there are drivers in New Hampshire who scoff at the law and pass a stopped school bus even when the red lights are flashing. On one day of observations in 2018, which included 25 communities, the New Hampshire School Transportation Association recorded 83 violations. Extrapolated across all NH towns and 180 school days, they estimate there are around 14,940 violations occurring during each school year.

Those drivers endanger the children getting on or off the bus, and are putting themselves in line to receive a visit from a police officer, who will likely be giving them an expensive ticket. That’s why the NHSTA organized “Operation Safe Stop” on Monday, Oct. 21, a day to encourage bus companies to cooperate with police departments for greater enforcement of the law. The effort was aimed at increasing driver compliance, as well as increasing awareness of safe street crossing habits among students.

One of the participating communities was Belmont, where officers followed some of the buses in the morning and in the afternoon, in case any drivers decided to skirt the law. No such scofflaws were witnessed by officers in Belmont on Monday, though one of the buses that wasn’t followed by a cruiser did report a violation.

Captain Rich Mann said that the Belmont Police Department received 10 reports from bus drivers in all of 2018. “In 2019, to date, we have already received 10 reports of buses being passed illegally,” he said.

Unlike other traffic violations, which must require an officer’s observation, or other evidence for a judge to find a defendant guilty, a school bus violation only requires the testimony of the bus driver. In instances where a report did not result in a summons, Mann said that was likely because the bus driver was too busy warning children of the hazard to catch the license plate.

“That is understandable, as their first priority is student safety; the second priority is trying to get the plate number of the violator, who most times has already passed the bus and the bus driver is trying to read the plate in their side mirror backwards,” Mann said.

Despite that difficulty, Belmont bus drivers have a pretty good batting average. Of the ten violations so far in 2019, five of them resulted in summonses. Those drivers are looking at a stiff penalty, a fine of $186 for a first offense and $310 for a second transgression within a year. Pass the bus on the right and the fine is $620, and, depending on the circumstances, could also result in a charge of negligent driving or reckless driving.

Mann said the usual excuse of drivers who violate this law is that they didn’t notice the lights on the bus until it was too late for them to stop.

“This could be avoided by being aware of traffic in front of you and especially coming towards you," he said. "By scanning around you it allows more reaction time and you can start to slow down and stop to obery the flashing red lights.” 

The violations tend to occur on Route 106, when drivers on the other side of the state highway might not realize that the “stop” signs apply to them, too.

Gilford was another local community that sent cruisers out to tail buses. It’s actually not an unusual occurrence in either town for police to observe school bus stops. Gilford Chief Anthony Bean Burpee pulled the duty himself on Monday.

“We started this year, in concert with a nationwide thing,” Bean Burpee said. Gilford has a highway safety grant to fund saturation patrols aimed at distracted driving, speeding and impaired driving, as well as school bus safety.

Drivers passing stopped buses is rare in Gilford, Bean Burpee said, though it does happen. One notable example occurred last year, when a home security camera caught a frightening scene where two boys jumped back out of their residential street as a car, traveling very fast, flew past a stopped bus. The driver was never identified.

“We’re in touch with (bus company) First Student, we’ve had a few violations that are reported to us,” Bean Burpee said. Though they’re not common, he said his department takes each violation seriously.

“We live in a society that’s go-go-go-go, nobody wants to wait,” Bean Burpee said. “Unfortunately, that’s what causes some tragedies.”

First Student, a division of the Ohio-based FirstGroup America, is the biggest provider of bus transportation in the region. Despite several telephone and emailed requests to talk with a bus driver or manager, First Student did not make any of its employees available for an interview. The company responded to a voice message left about the bus scofflaw issue by sending an email about buses that were being recalled because of seats that lacked sufficient padding.

Laconia was not a participant in Operation Safe Stop, but LPD Sargent Robert Cameron said school bus safety is something his department enforces.

“We do write tickets for that, it’s always a concern of ours,” he said. It’s of particular concern currently, as there are several road projects under way on major city streets. “There’s a lot of distractions out there for the typical commuter, especially with the construction,” Cameron said.

“We caution everybody to take their time on the road, give buses their space, realize that buses have to make several stops,” Cameron said. If there’s a safe space to do so, he said, drivers are trained to pull over to let traffic pass. However, the driver’s principal concern is for the young passengers.

“People just have to realize, hey, at certain times of the day, you’re going to get stuck behind school buses. Realize that the driver has a very important job to do – that’s to look out for the safety of the children,” Cameron said.