When School is in session, our neighbourhood children are waiting for and disembarking from school buses and there are almost 30,000 students in our area schools.
Motorists want to get to work or home again as quickly as possible and hate ending up behind a school bus because of frequent stops to board or disembark students. Some aggressive drivers run the school bus “stop arm”. In fact in a recent Transport Canada survey fully a third of school bus drivers interviewed, observed at least one incident of illegal passing daily.
Children are children and are at high risk as pedestrians. They have the same drive to “get there right now” as do those motorists who dread following a school bus.
By law, when school buses are stopped to pick up or drop off students, motorists are REQUIRED to stop too and most of them do. Those who don’t, pose a serious threat to the safety of our children.
In Ontario, Section 175 of the Highway Traffic Act clearly requires:
* Every driver, when meeting on a highway, other than a highway with a
median strip, a stopped school bus that has its overhead red signal
lights flashing, shall stop before reaching the bus and shall not proceed
until the bus moves or the overhead red signal lights have stopped
flashing.
* Every driver on a highway, when approaching from the rear, a stopped
school bus that has its overhead red signal lights flashing, shall stop at
least 20 metres before reaching the bus and shall not proceed until the
bus moves or the overhead red signal lights have stopped flashing.
The penalties for convictions that fail to obey the laws relating to school buses are stiff (full details are available on the Ministry of Transportation website) and can be assessed to both the driver and the owner of the vehicle.
* First Offence – fine of $400 to $2,000 and 6 demerit points.
* Subsequent offences – Fine of $1,000 to $4,000, 6 demerit points and
possible imprisonment.
Remember, ROAD SAFETY is NO ACCIDENT
and it STARTS WITH YOU!
If you have any information about any serious crime, please call Crime Stoppers.
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Call Crime Stoppers locally at
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or
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