Drivers, Remember: Don't Pass the School Buses In Lacey

by Karen Wall

by Karen Wall

School opens Wednesday in Lacey and that means a sharp increase in traffic -- students walking, riding bicycles, and, of course, riding the school buses.

It can be tempting to pass a school bus when you’re running late for work. The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, a group that focuses on school transportation safety, estimates nearly 13 million drivers will illegally pass stopped school buses during the school year. That estimate is based on a single-day survey conducted in 29 states between March and May each year. In 2014, the survey recorded 97,000 instances of illegal passes.

Passing a school bus that is stopped with its stop arm extended is not only illegal, but it is dangerous. Nationally, vehicles passing school buses caused the death of 467 students getting on or off school buses since 1970, accounting for 39 percent of all school bus loading and unloading fatalities, NASDPTS reports.

This video from 2008 illustrates the dangers of passing a stopped school bus.

In New Jersey, a driver convicted of illegally passing a stopped school bus faces fines and up to 15 days in jail, plus five points added to their driver’s license, which can result in surcharges and higher auto insurance rates, according to state law posted on the Department of Education website.

If you see a school bus with flashing red lights, you must stop a minimum of 25 feet from it -- whether you are following the bus or approaching it from the opposite direction -- and stay stopped until the doors of the bus close and its lights stop flashing.