Motorists Passing School Buses Face Police Crackdown In Plumsted

Police officers in Plumsted Township will be escorting school buses in the Plumsted Township School District on their routes in the wake of what police said was repeated issues of motorists passing buses that were stopped to pick up or drop off students.

"A bus route will be picked at random and the officer will be watching for motor vehicle violations," police said in a post on Facebook. "We feel this detail is necessary due to the high number of complaints we’ve received the last few weeks."

The escorts are starting immediately, police said.

Issues of motorists passing buses that are stopped with their lights flashing and safety arm extended prompt warnings at the start of every school year, but the warnings don't deter everyone.

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According to the website School Transportation News, the National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey, which has been collecting data for 45 years, found that 60 percent of the students who died over that time were hit by a motor vehicle passing a bus.

Deaths are more rare in recent years; in the 2015-16 school year, a 16-year-old Florida boy was hit and killed when an oncoming vehicle failed to stop despite the bus's lights flashing and its stop arm street to load onto the school bus, according to the School Bus Fleet website.

Plumsted police noted at driver who passes a school bus with red lights flashing will face the charge of 39:4-128.1, improper passing of a school bus, which carries a penalty of 5 points on their driver’s license and fines.

"The safety of our children is paramount and we will proactively protect them from recklessness such as this," police said.

Have you seen motorists pass school buses where you live? Tell us about it in the comments or email your comments to karen.wall@patch.com.

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