STOP for Buses!

The following article was recently published in The Daily Home.  A special "thank you" to Aziza Jackson and Janice Keith for helping bring this to everyone's attention.

Officials concerned over disregard for school bus stop law

by Aziza Jackson

Zora Ellis assistant principal Gloria Thomas said she sees many people violating the state's school bus stop law in Talladega. Photo by Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home


Every afternoon when the bell rings, about 325 students at Zora Ellis Junior High School in Talladega happily head out to go home for the day.
Some ride school buses and others are picked up by family vehicles, but they all face the danger of other cars that speed by while the students are crossing the street.
Zora Ellis assistant principal Gloria Thomas sees it happen every day.
“I’m usually there in the road and saying, ‘Stop, stop,’ and they just drive around me,” Thomas said.
Every day at 2:45 p.m. about eight buses line up in front of the school on Elm Street, with about 70 percent of the school’s student body boarding them.
“Our buses have their warning lights red and when they turn them on the stop signs will come out,” said Wanda Cochran, transportation director for Talladega city schools.
“It’s really dangerous because kids are crossing the street. I can’t come up with anything logical for why they do it. A stop sign means stop.”
Thomas and Cochran said vehicles will fly down Elm Street, which is a one-way street, and literally throw caution to the wind.
“I would just like for parents to follow the law,” Thomas said. “I don’t want anyone punished, just made aware of the danger problem.”
The “danger problem” is outlined in “Alabama’s New School Bus Stop Law.”
However, the “new” law is not new. In fact, it has been in effect since Oct. 1, 2006.
It states that when a school bus stops for passengers, loading or unloading, all traffic from both directions must stop.
This includes two-lane roadways, four-lane roadways, four-lane roadways with a center turning lane, and two-lane roadways with a center turning lane.
It is only on a four-lane highway divided by a median that only traffic following the bus must stop.
Since Elm Street is a one-way street, all traffic following the buses must stop.
Thomas said she and principal Scott Bailey are always out with the students, and sometimes in the road, ensuring the safety of their students.
She said they sometimes receive help from city police officers who stay on patrol during the school’s dismissal and have given out numerous tickets to offenders who neglect the bus stop sign.
The first offense is a fine between $150 to $300.
The second offense is a fine between $300 and $500 plus 100 hours of community service and a 30-day driver’s license suspension.
The third offense is a fine of between $500 and $1,000 plus 200 hours of community service and a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
The fourth offense is a fine of between $1,000 and $3,000, a Class C felony, and a one-year driver’s license suspension.
“You could pay for one policeman’s salary with all the tickets they give out,” Thomas said.
She said a police officer used to be stationed at the school for dismissals every day, but since the police force has been cut, officers have been seen less frequently.
“They have been helpful even if they can’t come every day,” Thomas said. “We wouldn’t have to worry about it if everyone followed the rules.”
Cochran said the eight buses at Zora Ellis are not equipped with cameras on the stop signs, but have a camera in the interior of the bus that has helped catch a few offenders.
“We have ordered some barricades so they can’t get around the road,” Thomas said.
“They come down the road so fast. It’s not every day or constantly, but it’s often enough that one day something bad could happen.”
Thomas stressed that the school bus safety issue is not just an issue for Zora Ellis, but a city issue and an awareness problem.
“I’m a mother of three. I’m from this community. This is my home,” Thomas said.
“We don’t want the public to think that their children aren’t safe.”
For more information about Alabama’s New School Bus Stop Law, call 334-242-9730 or visit www.alsde.edu.