SPRINGVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — State and local leaders gathered in Springville on Wednesday to encourage and remind drivers that, "being in a hurry is no reason to put somebody's life in jeopardy," and they need to stop when a school bus stops.
Operation Safe Stop promotes school bus safety through education and enforcement.
"Our goal is very simple; it's very important. Our mission is to bring students to school safely every morning and to get them home safely every afternoon," John Spacht, president of the New York State Association for Pupil Transportation, told WKBW.
Spacht is also the director of transportation for Jamestown Public School District, Frewsburg Central School District and Southwestern Central School District.
"Even just yesterday we had 77 of our buses; drivers reported that they were passed," Spacht said.
According to Operation Safe Stop, an estimated 50,000 motor vehicles illegally pass New York State school buses every day. However, with the advent of stop arm cameras, experts like Spacht believe that number is closer to 70,000.
In February, Buffalo's own school bus stop-arm camera program had issued more than 52,000 tickets to drivers for illegally passing stopped buses after launching 16 months prior.
Of the more than 52,000 tickets issued, only about 7% - 9% have been contested, according to Bus Patrol and the City of Buffalo. Additionally, 87% of violators have never received a second ticket.
"I think I can speak for all bus drivers; we've all been in situations where people have gone through our reds, passed us on the right, or just put us in dangerous situations that are out of our control," Ashley Hensley, a bus driver for Iroquois Central School District, told attendees on Wednesday. "And as frustrating as it is to us as drivers, we see the fear and frustration on the parents' faces every single time it happens."
Following an incident last year involving illegal passes, law enforcement officers began patrolling areas along the bus route.
WATCH: Operation Safe Stop calls on drivers to keep students safe at the bus stop
"I don't believe that we should need police officers to follow our buses just to get people to stop, but we will do whatever is necessary to keep our children safe," Hensley said.
In New York State, when a school bus stops and flashes its red lights, traffic approaching from either direction must stop before reaching the bus. Penalties for failing to do so include fines ranging from $250 to $1500, as well as jail time and five points being added to a driver's record for each conviction.
"I take this near and dear to my heart as a few years ago, my daughter was almost struck by a vehicle passing her school bus coming home from school," NY State Police Public Information Officer James O'Callaghan told the crowd. "I stand here as a trooper, but also then as a father, almost being a statistic to everything we're talking about."
O'Callaghan continued, "These are people that are going to pass a school bus and put our community and our kids at risk of serious physical injury or death. That's why we're here. We are here to curb that, to stop that. And unfortunately, New York State Police stats show that in the last two years, we've seen a 25% increase in school buses being passed. This shouldn't be."
While not all districts have stop-arm programs, districts like Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District, which hosted Wednesday's event, train their drivers to handle situations like these.
"Our drivers go through extensive training, and they are excellent about making sure they understand their surroundings," Superintendent James Bialasik told WKBW. "So anytime a student is getting on or off a bus, they're extremely cognizant of what's happening around them, both near them and behind them in the opposite lane. And our students are taught to follow the direction of the driver. So when they're getting on or off of a bus, they're looking at the driver, they're making eye contact, they're following the driver's directions, and ensuring that it's as safe as it can be before they ever cross in front of a bus or cross a road."
"It's very simple, very simple: anytime a bus has its yellow lights or its red lights on, it means there's going to be a child in the roadway, and people need to be cognizant of that. Give our children plenty of time to get to where they're going safely," Bialasik added.
