With a new school year beginning next week, that means school buses will be transporting children to and from their various schools.
Those school buses will be sharing the roads with other traffic. Some of that traffic will pass stopped school buses when it should not. Law-enforcement agencies, particularly the N.C. Highway Patrol. Enforcing laws regarding the passing of school buses is not about writing tickets to raise revenue. Enforcing those laws is about protecting children and saving lives.
Still don’t believe that passing a stopped school bus is a big deal? On March 23, 2011, nearly 3,700 vehicles illegally passed stopped school buses across the state, according to the state. Enough said.
The N.C. School Bus Safety Web has printable posters that enforce the safety message regarding school buses. One of those posters asks this question: What will it take to make you stop? It provides the following responses to select:
• fine?
• imprisonment?
• felony charge?
• five points on your driver’s license?
• or ending a child’s life?
Yes, what will it take to make you stop?