BOISE, Idaho — Just a few weeks into the new school year, a local school bus company is already raising some troubling safety concerns.
Each day thousands of school children climb on and off school buses in the Treasure Valley, and bus drivers are noticing a rising trend. An alarming number of stop-arm violations in which cars are driving past buses as they pick up or drop off kids in the Boise Independent School System.
The latest numbers provided from last school year show over 700 stop-arm violations. In 2020 there were 500 violations reported by school bus drivers and 60% of those drivers got cited.
The bus company tells Idaho News 6 that they started actively keeping track of these violations in 2020 as part of their contract with the Boise School District.
Bus officials say this year they have reported 34 violations so far, and expect violations to surpass last school year.
“We have seen a change in the driver becoming more aggressive, we are seeing more and more kids in the videos which is terrifying,” said Gary, Safety and Training Manager with Durham School Services.
School bus drivers have a button that they press that records those who violate the stop-arm sign, capturing license plates and vehicle information for law enforcement to follow up on.
“You have a stop sign, you have to stop and think. People go out of their way knowing that when a stop sign comes up at an intersection you need to stop. For some reason, we can't make that connection with a school bus,” said Hendrickson.
From the time the violation is committed, bus drivers have 72 hours to write up a report and submit photos and video to the local police departments.
Drivers can be cited for up to $200 for the first time and up to $400 the second time.
