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Troopers to target drivers around school buses

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Comments (6)

Monday, October 19, 2009

(Updated 12:03 pm)

By
Associated Press

RALEIGH (AP) — State troopers are beginning an operation to target drivers who fail to stop for school buses.

The Highway Patrol said today that Operation Stop Arm will be conducted throughout this week. Troopers plan to patrol school zones and follow school buses on the road.

State law requires drivers on both sides of two- and four-lane roads to stop for school buses. Drivers on the opposite side of the road can continue driving only if the four-lane road has a turning lane or a median.

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wbivie

October 19, 2009 - 11:49 am EDT

I really wish more drivers would pay attention to the very last sentence here. I understand the whole "better safe than sorry" mantra a lot of drivers use when approaching a stopped bus on the opposite side of a 5+ lane road, but buses are not allowed to have kids cross more than 4 lanes of traffic and thus it is safe to continue driving without fear of a ticket or worse, hitting a child crossing the road to get to the bus.

Sometimes it gets frustrating when time is tight in the morning having to stop needlessly for a school bus because other drivers in front don't understand the law correctly.

truth

October 19, 2009 - 3:52 pm EDT

Guilford County used to drop kids off on Wendover where they had to cross around the Bridford Parkway area. I saw it with my own eyes and apparently that siutation has now been remedied.

Sleek7

October 19, 2009 - 4:00 pm EDT

I still think its better to err on the side of caution. If drivers are not sure of the rules they should patiently wait. its better than hurting a child. Since time is sometimes tight why not leave home earlier???

blackstream

October 19, 2009 - 9:22 pm EDT

Maybe leaving home is a good idea... if you're single or have no children. Perhaps you're one of the parents that just put your child on one of those annoying buses. Leaving sooner may not be an option. Keep in mind, buses don't always run at the exact same time everyday. They can be early, or late. We just need to get those buses off the road while picking up and dropping off. Public bus systems don't bring the world to a stop, why should school buses?

wbivie

October 20, 2009 - 11:07 am EDT

If leaving the house earlier were always an option I wouldn't have said anything about being frustrated. As it currently stands, it is not always an option.

blackstream

October 19, 2009 - 9:19 pm EDT

While it's understandable about not wanting to endanger a child, it's also understandable about the inconvenience the school buses cause. Obviously, the present method of loading and unloading of children is the primary cause of danger. With all of the reasons for government bodies to take the land of property owners, no one has ever pushed the issue of taking a small space about every mile to create a roadside bus stop. If they had started this years ago, the problem would be solved already. For the time frame school is in session, the whole country has to come to a crawl, twice a day five days a week, to allow buses to stop and pick up a child, drive another couple hundred feet and stop again. They complain about the kids being fat. If they had to walk a little further to the bus stop, perhaps they would lose some of those pounds. Instead, we pick them up with their royal, yellow coach and then want to take food away from them at school. While children are considered to be a precious comodity, they do after all grow up to be useless adults that have nothing else better to do but see how much deeper they can drive the human race into the mud!