With school starting up, school buses are once again a very common sight out on Colorado’s roads. There are various special rules related to driving near school buses. This includes rules regarding not passing school buses that have their red lights flashing and their stop arms out. It is critical for motorists to follow these rules. Unfortunately, recently released survey results indicate that it might be pretty common for U.S. drivers to fall short in this respect.
The survey was a one-day survey conducted during last school year. In the survey, over 100,000 school bus drivers reported on whether they had been illegally passed during the day. These drivers were from 38 states and Washington D.C.
Altogether, nearly 84,000 illegal passes were reported for the day the survey focused on. This points to the U.S. likely seeing millions of illegal passes of school buses in a school year.
Why is it so important for drivers to obey the special passing restrictions regarding school buses? It is because illegal passes can endanger school kids. Such illegal conduct by drivers could put students at serious risk of getting hit as they head towards or leave their school bus. Such collisions can open the door to kids facing life-altering injuries.
Why do you think that, despite the serious dangers posed by disobeying the special restrictions on passing school buses, such violations are so common here in the United States? What do you think would be the best way to get drivers to change their behavior on this front? How good of a job do you think Colorado drivers currently do when it comes to avoiding these illegal passes?