AS SCHOOLS GEAR UP, BUS SAFETY MOVES TO THE FOREFRONT

When classes begin in Cape Girardeau schools Thursday, motorists must contend with more than 50 school buses hauling children to and from schools during the heaviest traffic hours of the day.

"Almost every year for the past several years we have had a fairly serious bus accident early in the fall," said George Hathhorn, manager of Ryder Student Transportation in Cape Girardeau. "This is most often the result of people not seeing the school buses or not stopping.

"This is a time when motorists need to be especially wary of buses," he said. "People aren't used to seeing them on the street after summer break and I suppose they just get a little too lax."

The buses will be on the streets predominantly between the hours of 6:30-8:30 a.m. and 2:30-5 p.m.

Hathhorn said the most important thing for motorists to remember when traveling behind a school bus is to recognize and obey traffic signals used to indicate intent and stopping of the bus.

"When they see the yellow flashing lights, motorists need to remember that the bus will soon be stopping for the loading or unloading of passengers," Hathhorn said.

Municipal code says motorists cannot pass a bus stopped with red flashing lights in either direction of a two-way street.

All buses are equipped with two-way radios and drivers will not hesitate to call in the description and license plate numbers of vehicles that violate bus safety regulations, Hathhorn said.

Officer Kevin Orr of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said that after drivers or officials of Ryder Student Transportation report a violation involving a motorist and a school bus, an officer is dispatched for a follow-up investigation.

The motorist in violation will be issued a summons, which requires a court appearance. Minimum fine for a violation is $50 plus $20 court costs.

"You want to give school buses a lot of room," Orr advised. "Buses are starting and stopping often, and children will be crossing the road to board or after they get off the bus.

"If you're coming right up on a school bus, you may not be able to stop in time," Orr said.

Jim Englehart, director of secondary education for Cape Girardeau public schools, said students in grades kindergarten through ninth are reminded of proper bus etiquette at the start of every school year.

"We tell them that the general expectations for their behavior on a school bus are the same as in the classroom," Englehart said. "Students are expected to be courteous to one another as they are in class, and they are to remember that the bus driver has the same authority as a classroom teacher."

The school does not take up class time to discuss proper behavior on the bus with grades 10-12 because, "If we haven't convinced them by then, another sitting is not going to do it," Englehart said.

Schools encourage motorists to exercise whatever caution seems reasonable around school zones and when encountering school buses.

"There are going to be a lot of children standing along the curbside in the morning waiting for the buses," Englehart said. "Children have a tendency to push and shove each other and spill out into the street.

"Motorists should be wary of groups of children especially young children waiting for their bus to arrive," he said.

At the start of the school year, the police department goes into the classrooms to verse students in areas of pedestrian and bus safety.

"We tell them to cross the street in proper places, look both ways before they cross the street and to be as safe as possible," Orr said. At the same time, motorists should be watching for children crossing the street who are not paying attention.

"Another important thing we tell children is, if they drop something when they are getting on or off a bus, they should not climb under a bus to get it," Orr said. "Instead, they should tell the driver or wait until the bus has driven away to pick it up.

"We've don't want someone to get run over trying to pick up a notebook or something," Orr said. "It's happened before and it's very preventable."