School bus stop accidents are in the news every year. With school starting back up after a lengthy delay due to COVID19 it is important to be sure our children are safe. Drivers may be “out of practice” and have “decreased awareness” of bus stop safety since it has been a long time since buses have been running.
Millions of Drivers Pass Stopped School Bus Illegally
Past statistics have shown that more than 13-million times a year a driver will illegally pass a stopped school bus with children narrowly escaping being hit by these drivers. In Georgia, the DOT urges drivers throughout the school year to put back to school safety first when around school zones, when children are on or near the roadway, and when a school bus is loading or unloading students. In the recent past, Georgia’s youth have suffered needlessly with severe injury and death due to a driver not paying attention, and not following traffic safety laws.
Bus Stop Laws Were Changed in Georgia
The bus stop laws in Georgia were changed for the 2018-2019 school year. With the long COVID19 hiatus from regular school attendance, drivers need to review those changes that require drivers to stop for a loading or unloading bus in most cases. The only exceptions to this rule continue to be when the highway is separated in the center by a dirt, grass, or concrete median, or a center turn lane. On all other roadways where a vehicle is following, traveling alongside a school bus, or coming upon a bus from the opposite direction, they must stop while the bus is stopped with lights flashing, with its stop sign and/or cross gate out.
Georgia School Bus Accident Statistics
Approximately 20 children were killed getting on and off the bus every year in Georgia. Most of those killed in Georgia are children between ages of five and seven who are hit in what is ominously called the “Danger Zone” around the bus, either by a vehicle passing a bus with its red lights flashing or by the school bus itself. If there is any doubt, when the bus is stopped and children are about, stop and wait.
School Bus Accident Attorney
If your child was involved in an accident by a bus driver, a driver illegally passing a stopped bus that was loading students, or while waiting at a bus stop, call Joel Baskin, an expert concerning any school bus or roadway incident. Let him fight for your child’s rights, treatment, and care.