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While some are pushing for stiffer distracted driving penalties and urging legislators to take action in the wake of recent school bus tragedies nationally, here in the UP, the city of Houghton is taking its own action to battle distracted driving and increase school bus stop awareness.
Police say that motorists often times blow right through the “no travel zone” that exists by law when a school bus is stopped with its red lights activated.
“In recent past, we’ve had some vehicles passing the school buses. We want to advise people about bus safety along with the children that are getting on our buses,” said Lt. Nick Roberts of the Houghton Police Department.
A camera was placed on a Houghton school bus by its driver who’s concerned for the safety of the children. His camera caught many drivers at other bus stops doing the same thing, not even acknowledging the children crossing the street as they blow past the big yellow bus with red flashing lights on it. Even with the bus driver blasting the horn, the driver appeared oblivious.
It’s a problem that Roberts says is becoming too common. He said, “Our bus services are looking at putting cameras on their buses right now throughout the Houghton school district, and hopefully in the near future, all buses. That helps us out as law enforcement. “If we get somebody that’s passing a school bus, it’s much better to have that video of that vehicle and that person passing the school bus if we have to go to court on it.”
The bus line will begin installing cameras on selected buses in the upcoming days, before deciding on weather or not more are needed.
Both the cities of Houghton and Hancock, and the Houghton County Sheriff’s department all say that they’ve seen an increase in drivers ignoring school bus stop lights, and they are monitoring bus stops regularly. “It’s a zero tolerance- you pass school bus illegally, you get a ticket,” stated the Lieutenant.
Along with video surveillance to support a punitive measure, the Houghton PD has also begun working on a video campaign to help raise awareness, and simply urge drivers to pay more attention when driving. He added, “We’ll be doing some short stories in the future, advising people what the laws are and how to properly stop for a bus that has its lights on and is letting kids off and back on to their stops. We’ll give some incidences and some suggestions.”
More so than issuing tickets, the goal is to increase awareness and compliance with the school bus stop law, and reduce distracted driving. Roberts says that many drivers are uncertain what to do when a bus stops on a multi lane highway, such as M-26 or US-41, but a quick way for a driver to know is by looking for a highway divider, whether it be concrete or a grassy median. “If you have a barrier between the highway, the opposite lanes don’t have to stop. But if there’s no separation, all lanes of traffic have to stop for that school bus when it has its lights on and stop sign out.”
This detail and several others will be outlined in those ads that will begin running on local and social media in the upcoming days. “This is about keeping the kids safe. So early in the morning and at night, it’s getting darker now for winter time. Please, please, please look for those school buses,” said Roberts.
ABC 10 News Story- https://youtu.be/fz6y0uAUOnQ
