School bus stop accidents have been in the news across the nation since school started back up this year. As a parent, we look to be sure our children are safe, but more and more children are injured waiting for the bus, or crossing the street at the school bus stop. With seasonable time changes, it is often darker in the mornings when children are waiting for and getting onto the school bus, which makes it even more dangerous to use the bus. Inattentive, and careless drivers are putting children at risk every day.
Millions of Drivers Pass Stopped School Bus Illegally
Across the U.S. more than 13-million times a year a driver will illegally pass a stopped school bus. Many children narrowly escape being hit by these drivers. Other children are not so fortunate resulting in a rise in school bus stop accidents. 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. 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 Changed in Georgia
The bus stop laws in Georgia were just changed last year. The new law, which became effective for the 2018-2019 school year, requires 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 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. If in doubt, when the bus is stopped and children are about, stop.
Grim School Bus Stop Accidents Statistics
Approximately 20 children are killed getting on and off the bus every year in Georgia. Most of those killed in Georgia are children between the 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.
School Bus Stop Enforcement Program
Georgia schools are now starting to use a new enforcement program where cameras help to enforce safety laws near school buses. Georgia schools are using this method to collect footage and pass the video on to local police where they can issue tickets to those violating the stopped school bus laws.
School Bus Stop Accidents Attorney
If your child was involved in an accident by a bus driver, a driver illegally passing a stopped bus which was loading students, or while waiting at a bus stop, call Joel Baskin, an expert concerning any school bus stop or roadway incident. Let him fight for your child’s rights, treatment, and care.