One of the most dangerous moments for school children is the time they take walking to or from the bus. Three siblings were killed in October by a car as they were crossing a two-lane highway to get to their bus in Fulton County.
The problem is widespread. According to a 2018 survey, bus drivers in 38 states and Washington, D.C., counted a total of 83,944 illegal passes in a single day. The impatience of drivers is risking the lives of countless children. That’s why Indiana needs Senate Bill 2.
Authored by state Sen. Randall Head, R-Logansport, this bill contains numerous proposals that would work to improve bus safety for students by increasing penalties on drivers. It was recently passed unanimously in the Senate Judiciary Committee and is clearly a high priority.
Head's bill would make passing school bus stop arms a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by fines and jail time. The court can suspend the driver’s license for 90 days or a year, depending on how many violations they have amassed.
The penalty becomes a Level 6 felony if the illegal pass causes injury, and a Level 5 felony if it leads to death. In either case, the driver can be fined up to $20,000.
In addition, schools would be allowed to install cameras to photograph violators automatically, forwarding the images to a police department so that a ticket may be written.
If you think such measures are excessive, remember how easily your car can hurt or kill a pedestrian, especially a child. We must make children our highest priority when we’re on the road, because their safety depends on how we drive. Drivers who do not take this into consideration must face consequences for putting children at risk.
The bill also offers some preventative solutions to this problem. After all, if a driver hits a child, no amount of fines or jail time will fix that. So it is better to find ways of keeping children from being hit in the first place.
For this reason, the bill requires all schools providing transportation to “review each school’s school bus routes and school bus safety policies to improve the safety of students and adults.” Additionally, bus stops cannot be located on U.S. or state routes “unless no other safe alternatives are available,” and bus drivers should pick up and drop off students as close to the right-hand curb as possible.
Head said he understands that the penalties in this bill will not completely prevent dangerous driving near school buses, and he’s probably right. There will still be drivers who aren’t paying attention or who simply don’t care.
It’s also hard to ensure that all buses will be able to load and unload on the right side of the road, so there will still be children who have to cross the street to get to their bus stops.
This is why we should consider this bill the beginning of a solution, but not the end. Although we will see a reduction in infractions, every single car that ignores this law should be punished. A complete solution to this issue will require further research and patience.
If this potential legislation demonstrates tangible results, other states will surely follow. A bill of this magnitude has the potential to be adopted in other states. That’s why the bill needs to pass.
