Drivers Pass Stopped School Buses Often, Parents, Officials Say

Brick Memorial Principal Richard Caldes was driving along Herbertsville Road Thursday afternoon when it happened: A Brick Township School District bus that was stopped along the road, red lights flashing and dropping off students, got passed by a car that ignored the flashing lights.

In New Jersey, a driver who passes a school bus that is stopped to discharge or pick up students is subject to a fine and 5 points on their license — enough points to trigger a surcharge. That penalty, however, isn't enough to stop some drivers from breaking the law,

The Plumsted Township Police Department announced a week ago that it would be cracking down on the problem by randomly escorting school buses for the New Egypt schools (Plumsted's school district) after hearing from the district about a spike in incident of cars passing buses. But the issue isn't one limited to the western Ocean County town. Patch readers say they have witnessed the problem in a number of spots.

"I have seen it in Brick," Patch reader Kay Sie wrote. She was helping her 3-year-old get on the bus at the time and the driver of the car behind it "couldn't be bothered to wait the 20 seconds. Like okay, put children's lives in danger cause you were unable to leave on time."

"I've actually called the (Toms River) police about cars constantly passing my son's school bus," wrote Alicia H Margeotes Borer of Toms River, whose son gets picked on Old Freehold Road. "The bus driver typically has to blow her horn at the cars passing. About two months ago my son and his friend were almost hit by a car as they were crossing the street immediately after getting off of his bus."

"Unfortunately this seems to be a problem in most districts," said Don Wilson, transportation director for the Brick Township Schools. Bus drivers try to get the information on the offenders when they can, Wilson said, but "it is extremely difficult for a school bus driver to observe and record the license plate number while observing the safe loading and unloading of students."

David Healy, superintendent of the Toms River Regional School District, said when the district is made aware of trouble spots, they notify the Toms River Police Department to have them addressed.

State law says motorists must stop a minimum of 10 feet from a school bus that has its red lights flashing and is stopped to load or unload students. Vehicles — both those in the opposite lane of travel and those behind the bus — are required to stop. Vehicles in the opposite travel lane on a road with a physical divider — such as the concrete barrier that separates the lanes of Brick Boulevard or Route 37 — are exempted from the requirement to stop.

Those behind the bus are required to stop regardless, but for whatever reason, some drivers do not.

Kelly Winters of Toms River said "it's a huge problem" at the bus stop where her children are picked up.

"No less than four cars have either not stopped, stopped and then went around the bus, or even went around all the cars behind the bus in the wrong lane," Winters wrote, noting that her children's bus stop is along Bay Avenue. "Some that stop get so pissed they have to stop that they have flipped off the bus when they are finally allowed to go."

Some Patch readers said part of the issue is the numerous stops school buses make these days.

"What ever happened to the 'bus stop' where there is a set corner in a given neighborhood where a whole cluster of students can be picked up and dropped off at once," asked Bill Wimmer of Brick. "I may be missing something but I live off Mantoloking Road in Brick and it seems like these buses basically are giving the kids door-to-door service or, if not, stopping at every corner. It's very frustrating when you consider the mile-long line of cars behind the bus."

The reason that exists, Valerie Bei-Jones said, is the lack of sidewalks along busy roads.

"It’s dark out when we start picking up for high school," Bei-Jones, a bus driver for the Brick Township Schools, wrote on the Brick Patch Facebook page. The lack of sidewalks along most of Mantoloking Road means students would have to walk in the road to get to a collective bus stop, and the traffic along Mantoloking is so much greater that having students walking along the road puts them in danger. "It would be wonderful if it was only one or two big stops but it doesn’t work like that anymore."

The lack of sidewalks is an issue in many areas of Ocean County, and it comes in part from a mindset that has focused for years on improving access and travel for motorists, Brick Township Councilwoman Heather deJong said recently. DeJong, who is part of the working group in the township that is focused on creating a plan to address safety and access issues for pedestrians and bicyclists in the town, said many of the roads where there are issues are ones controlled by the state or county, and putting sidewalks in hasn't been a priority.

A drive down Mantoloking Road shows a mixture of spots where there are sidewalks — primarily in front of some of the mini clusters of businesses. But there are lengthy stretches of Mantoloking Road that are virtually unchanged since the 1980s, with property owners' fences backed up to the street, leaving very little space to walk on the shoulder safely even in the daylight along a road where the speed limit varies from 35 to 45 mph and where anyone who drives it will tell you those limits are routinely exceeded.

Some school bus drivers take extra measures to protect their students. Kim Shirley Perlstein of Toms River said the driver who transports her children "stops literally in the middle of the street so no one can go around her bus."

"The other day there was a car trying to come around her right as she pulled the arm in from the front of the bus but couldn't since (the school bus) was in the middle of the street," Perlstein said. "The woman in the car started honking. I am very happy with her. I know she will keep my kids safe!"

There is a bill in the state legislature that would give bus drivers a hand in combating the issue. Senate bill S-211, sponsored by 10th District Sen. Jim Holzapfel, who represents Brick and Toms River among his constituency, would set up a pilot program to equip school buses with video cameras to record incidents of drivers illegally passing school buses.

"Without the use of cameras, drivers know they are unlikely to receive a ticket for illegally passing a school bus unless a police officer is present to witness the violation or the bus driver manages to write down their license plate number, which rarely happens," Holzapfel said Iin January 2017 when the bill was passed by the Senate.

The bill requires that a police officer review recorded footage to determine when a citation should be issued. Drivers who receive tickets resulting from footage captured with a camera system would be subject to a fine of $300 to $500. Points would not be assessed as a result of violations generated with the assistance of cameras.

The Assembly released the bill from committee in June but it has languished since then, leaving it up to bus drivers and parents to do the best they can to protect kids.

"Literally every day when my daughter gets home in the afternoon someone blows past," wrote Rebecca Lynn, whose daughter gets picked up along Old Freehold Road. "It’s terrifying. My daughter is in kindergarten and I’m standing there with my toddler. Something needs to be done before one of my kids gets hurt."

Wilson said when Caldes witnessed the car passing the school bus last Thursday, he wrote down the description of the car and its license plate number, and the information was reported to the Brick Township Police Department's traffic safety division.

"Citizens who witness this type of incident and can give a description of the car and tag number, location and time can send it to transportation@brickschools.org," said Wilson, the Brick schools' transportation director. "I will make sure that the police are notified and will follow up on each and every complaint."

"After all, the most important thing that we can do as citizens is to look out for the safety of our children," Wilson said.

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