We live on Route 63 and we experience cars passing the school bus when the red stop arm is out. During this school year we have witnessed the bus being passed at our stop over seven times!
I first would like to give credit to our amazing bus driver that has taught our children to stop and wait in front of the passenger side of the bus until he gives them the thumbs up that it is safe to cross the street. I also want to thank our local police who have often followed the bus along the Route 63 route to prevent cars from passing and who follow up on our reports of stop arm violations.
There are two bills in our state Legislature (S.2640 and H.4478), currently in the Ways and Means Committee, that would help to enforce the stop arm laws. Similar bills have not made it out of the committee in years past. We are terrified that one day our children will be hit and killed by a car going 50 mph on Route 63 because the driver wasn’t paying attention and didn’t stop.
Increasing the fines and allowing video evidence from a school bus monitoring system to be sufficient to issue a criminal offense that impacts drivers’ records without requiring a police officer to witness the event is an important step in curbing violations.
We are asking you for 4 things. Please reinforce with your children to wait, look, and listen before crossing, even in front of the school bus. Please reinforce the importance, and lifesaving actions, of slowing and stopping when the school bus lights are on with your young drivers. Please advocate for stronger laws and easier enforcement of stop arm violations. Please report stop arm violations to the police so we have data to support the frequency of the violations.
Audra Goscenski
Leverett