Montclair Cops Safeguard School Buses; Traffic Campaign Returns

MONTCLAIR, NJ — If you pass a school bus when its red lights are flashing, it can potentially be a deadly maneuver that ends with a tragedy. But last year in Montclair, one police officer was issuing as many as four summonses each morning, authorities said… about one car every 30 minutes.

The above statistic is just one of several reasons why the Montclair Police Department is bringing back last year’s traffic campaign, which saw officers shadowing local school buses as a safety precaution.

The need became dire, police say. In about half a year, officers gave out 175 traffic summonses for failing to halt for a stopped school bus, or nearly a ticket a day.

• See related article: Drivers Fail To Stop For School Bus Almost Daily In Montclair, Cops Say
• See related article: Montclair Police Are Following School Buses In Unmarked Cars

After last year’s campaign, the Montclair Police Traffic Bureau worked all summer with the Montclair Board of Education and the New Jersey Department of Highway Traffic Safety to shift its School Bus Safety Awareness Campaign into high gear.

The department also partnered with Jason Street of Applegate Farm, where officers will be hosting educational events during September and October.

Officers will be at Applegate's handing out literature on the dangers and consequences of passing a stopped school bus. While interacting with the customers, they will also be handing out coupons for a free ice cream cone, courtesy of Applegate Farm.

Event dates are September 7, September 28 and October 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“The purpose is to educate drivers, as well as new drivers approaching entry into the graduated driver program (GDL), about the dangers of passing a stopped school bus with its red lights activated,” Montclair police stated.

“While conducting enforcement this past school year, we observed an alarmingly high volume of motorists passing stopped school buses actively loading and unloading their young passengers,” police said.

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