Demand For MA School Bus Safety Action After 3 Peabody Students Struck

PEABODY, MA — Peabody officials and parents are demanding action after three students were recently hit when drivers passed school buses stopped to discharge or pick up children in the city.

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said he intends to convene a task force, hold a public meeting and seek stronger penalties for those who violate the state law that requires oncoming traffic to stop for school buses when the "stop" arm is extended.

"This has really become an epidemic across our city, across our state and really across the region in terms of reckless and dangerous driving that is really putting our kids in danger," Bettencourt said at Tuesday night's School Committee meeting, where he serves as chair. "In the city of Peabody, there were a couple of incidents where a couple of students were hit that really alarmed all of us."

Bettencourt said, fortunately, while the students were injured none of the three sustained critical harm upon being struck. But with the multiple instances of children getting hit and hurt "we as a School Committee, we as a community, really need to rally around to bring light to an issue that really is concerning."

"We had a couple of incidents that really could have turned out much worse — that really could have been disastrous," Bettencourt said. "This is an issue that touches all of us."

Peabody parent Maria Scheri started an online campaign called STOP — Stop The Operator from Passing — to increase awareness of the issue, and police presence around frequent student crossings and advocate for pushing for a state law, which she said has been stalled on Beacon Hill for 11 years, that would require cameras on school buses to identify violators of the stop law.

"The pit in your stomach when you see somebody drive past a school bus when you see kids are getting on and off, with no regard for their lives, it's sickening," Scheri said.

Scheri said she began researching the violations after witnessing violations around her own kids' bus travel and found that 41.8 million people across the country do not stop for school buses each year. She said she is compiling online videos of violations from Google on Facebook so she can further highlight the danger.

"I can't solve the country's problems right now," she said. "I am one mom who is trying to make a difference so I am going to start right here in Peabody."

The Peabody School Committee voted unanimously behind a directive, brought forward by Committee Member Beverly Anne Griffin Dunne, to have a petition supporting the bus cameras and other mitigation efforts signed and brought before the Massachusetts Association of School Committees for endorsement at its next meeting.

"This is truly a community effort," Superintendent Josh Vadala said. "There's a number of parents here tonight and they represent a lot of people. We've had a few scary incidents over the past several weeks.

"To be frank, it's not OK. We really see the need for this."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)