With the school year having just barely gotten started, what better time than now is there to devote some space to transportation as it relates to schools.
Actions observed
It’s amazing to me the “I could care less” attitudes exhibited by some drivers, parents of children/students in school zones at both the starts and ends of weekday school sessions. Thank goodness for all who “could care more” and do!
Besides the disregarding by some drivers of the flashing red school bus lights and driving past these buses when the lights are activated, parents dropping their kids off or picking them up at school sites frequently allow youngsters to get into and out of their vehicles on the “active” traffic side. Not only can this be dangerous for the children, proximate traffic is impacted because the children and/or their parents oftentimes stand in the roadway (albeit close to their vehicles). Not only this, but those trying to cross streets not at crosswalks, are now faced with having to wait for the right opportunity so they can dash across the street to get to and from the school grounds, whereas, if they instead crossed at the designated and oftentimes patrolled or guarded crosswalks, believe it or not, the stress level actually goes down. The harsh reality here parents: the entrance and exit passages of school buses are located on the sidewalk sides for a reason. If not already on board, get with the program, please!
In fact, I once observed a parent pull into a bus loading/unloading zone at a school site right in front of an arriving school bus no less, a loading/unloading zone with the standard red-painted curb and which was recessed (in other words, an area of the sidewalk was cut out to better accommodate the buses so as not to impede traffic flow) to boot, yet this person still pulled into this restricted area. Immediately the bus driver behind honked the horn and off the driver went. Excuse me, but what part of school bus loading/unloading zone did the private passenger vehicle driver pulling into this area not understand? So what’s it going to take, a ticket, to get them to not do the wrong thing?
At some schools, parents driving their kids to and from school may pull into parking lots to drop off as well as pick up the children. It’s really quite elementary. At the exits of these lots on a fence or gate usually is posted a sign with the words “Right Turn Only.” One of the most fundamental activities we learn to do in school is read. Sadly, some drivers refuse to do this and do something other than make that right turn. Common sense says the signs are there to keep traffic moving along in the most efficient way. What’s more, these are regulatory signs because they have a white background with black lettering, the same as a posted speed limit sign. The speed limit in school zones, by the way, is 25 miles per hour. In some school zones, a digital sign is posted which displays driving speed. This, when coupled with the vehicle’s own speedometer, there should be no question as to what one’s speed is in these zones.
School bus encounters
When it comes to school bus driving, or any type of driving for that matter, there is no room for error – period.
As a driver who shares the road with such buses, I can’t just think about myself when in the presence of buses dropping off and picking up students. When the red lights flash, I stop. I notice not all vehicle drivers in the presence of school buses either discharging students or when students are boarding, stop, though, many breezing right on by as if the bus or students were non-existent. A driver, law abiding or otherwise, is setting an example. As a bus-riding student myself once, I am grateful there were drivers out there who obeyed driving laws allowing me to always safely get to where I was going.
And I might add, one potential trouble spot for drivers encountering school buses, is the bus stop in front of the Canyon Springs apartments located on the west side of the BNSF Railway tracks at the intersection of Figarden and Santa Fe on Figarden Drive. Because the entrance to the apartment complex is so close to the railroad crossing itself, when school buses stop there, traffic has a tendency to back up behind the stopped bus. If you ever find yourself in this line of traffic behind a stopped school bus there, do not stop on the railroad tracks themselves. If the bus in question doesn’t move and a train is approaching, it is possible to get blocked in on the crossing. Incidentally, it is a violation of the law to stop on railroad tracks. Besides being illegal to do so, it could be dangerous too.
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