The sheer fact that we need to potentially implement this particular safety precaution/deterrent is ludicrous. But it’s absolutely necessary to help curb idiocy.
I was initially going to write my bi-weekly commentary on the deadliest snow storm in recorded history, even had a couple hundred words already complete on the subject coming into the office on Monday morning. And while the Iran blizzard of 1972 (yes, I said Iran and blizzard in the same sentence) was a horrific natural disaster that claimed the lives of approximately 4,000 people, I had to shift my focus this time around to the present day. I still encourage you to investigate the blizzard that took place 50 years ago this week. It’s hard to fathom 26 feet of snow falling in only a few days, but it happened. I’ll never complain about shovelling the driveway again.
In our sister paper, the Listowel Banner, Colin Burrowes has an article this week outlining the plea from local school bus company owner John Chapman quickly piqued my interest when I was getting caught up on some editing. Essentially the purpose of his delegation was to ask Perth County council to put its support behind installing school bus stop-arm cameras on all regional buses in an attempt to curb (hopefully stop altogether) drivers from passing stopped school vehicles when their signals are activated. Council very correctly offered its unanimous support in getting the ball rolling on the initiative in time for the 2022-23 school year in the fall. Here’s hoping the funding follows in short order.
Why this is even necessary hurts my brain. Since becoming a father nearly five years ago my parental instincts have become significantly heightened, and you certainly become much more aware of potential dangers to your tykes. Given the staggering statistics on how many drivers ‘blow by’ buses with safety signals and stop arm activated every day, it’s an issue that warrants swift action.
Chapman relayed the numbers from School Bus Ontario magazine that approximately 18,000 school buses are operating daily in the province, and the average amount of blow bys is 30,000 per day. Per day! Where do all these drivers have to urgently be where they would apparently risk a child’s life to get there? It’s pure lunacy, and it has to stop. Much like the drivers who choose the accelerator over the brake.
School bus safety arm cameras would be a good start in cracking down, but the penalties for passing a stopped bus need to be much more severe to deter it altogether. In my opinion, this crime should rival impaired driving charges. You’re putting others at risk when you decide to get behind the wheel while impaired by alcohol or drugs, and you’re certainly directly putting children in harm’s way when you opt to pass a stopped school bus.
An impaired driver typically loses their licence for a year if found guilty, and that’s a good place to start here. According to Colin’s article, a failure to stop for a bus can result in a driver being fined between $400 to $2,000 and given six demerit points for a first offence. Subsequent offences can result in a driver being fined up to $4,000, six demerit points, and up to six months in jail.
Compare this to a conviction for racing or stunt driving, where an offender can be fined anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 and lose their licence for a year. Surely a similar monetary penalty can be imposed for something as serious as passing a school bus. I don’t think it’s out of the question to start at $10K and work your way up. And a multiple offender? You should kiss your licence goodbye permanently. I’d love to hear an argument to justify keeping it after pulling this crap more than once.
There is no legitimate rationale for any driver passing a school bus with signals activated – maybe an extreme medical emergency – and especially those that pass them at a very high rate of speed that seems almost out of spite. That this despicable large yellow vehicle would prevent them from getting home or to work 30 seconds earlier. Buses contain our most precious resource, kids only traveling to or from school in an effort to obtain an education. Drivers that can’t bother to slow down and wait to pass a bus at a safe and more opportune time don’t deserve their licences in the first place.
Apologies that this column quickly turned into a rant, but it was necessary. What isn’t necessary is people repeatedly putting children at extreme risk of injury or death when all they are trying to do is get on or off a school bus. This shouldn’t even be a conversation or an issue, people.
And if anyone is offended by my use of the term ‘idiocy’ from the onset to describe drivers that pass stopped school buses, there isn’t a more accurate term for them out there. As defined by Merriam-Webster, idiocy is “extreme foolishness or stupidity.” The act of passing a stopped bus should be added as a sub-section of the definition itself.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you back here in a fortnight.
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This is a bi-weekly opinion column; for question or comment contact Dan McNee at dmcnee@midwesternnewspapers.com.
