School bus stop arm means ‘stop’

The academic year is underway, and that means children everywhere will be lining up to take the bus to school.

When a bus pulls to the side of the road to let a student enter or exit, the driver activates the vehicle's stop arm, a stop sign that folds out telling motorists from both directions to stop. This ensures that children can safely walk across the street to board the bus without having to dodge traffic.

Motorists must not pass the bus while the stop arm is out. In other words, they must treat it as a stop light. Failure to do so puts the lives of the children in jeopardy, and can result in a fine or temporary loss of license.

The Union spoke to the transportation directors at Mt. Pleasant, Washington and Fairfield school districts to learn about the steps they've taken to address stop arm violations, and to learn how serious this problem is.

Mt. Pleasant

Ted Carlson is the transportation director for the Mt. Pleasant Community School District, a position he's held since 2003. He said that one of his drivers has already reported a stop arm violation the first week of the new school year. That particular violation was not captured on camera, but some of them are. Mt. Pleasant has 23 buses in its fleet, seven of which are equipped with exterior cameras that can record the license plates of stop arm violators.

Carlson estimated that his drivers have reported as many as eight or nine stop arm violations in a month, though the number is not consistently that high.

'It scares the heck out of everybody when they see it happen,” he said. 'It upsets my drivers, and many times, parents will see it, too.”

Whenever Carlson has an opportunity to address the media, the first thing out of his mouth is stop arm violations.

'I've never had an injury involving a stop arm violator, but we've had so many close calls I've lost count,” he said. 'It's a miracle more children aren't hurt.”

Carlson said '80-90 percent” of the violators are people staring at their phone, not paying close attention to what's in front of them.

'We get a lot of violators going through town driving nice and slow at 20 miles an hour. I can count the buttons on their shirt, and I see they've got a phone in their hand,” he said. 'It's a much bigger problem than it was 15 years ago because of cellphones.”

Mt. Pleasant Police Chief Lyle Murray said his department's call logs indicate 10-15 citations are issued every year for stop arm violations, and he said he feels the problem is growing.

'Everyone is in more of a hurry it seems, and distracted driving is a huge problem especially with cellphones,” he said.

Murray said the school bus drivers do a good job of filling out the reporting forms, and the cameras usually capture the infraction.

'Our officers are usually able to confirm the violation with the offenders,” Murray said. 'Most of the time, it is not an intentional but more of a distraction offense or lack of awareness. [Nevertheless], it is a very serious violation, with the potential of serious injury.”

Mt. Pleasant Community School District has added LED strobing lights to its buses, similar to those used by law enforcement or fire trucks, in the hopes of attracting drivers' attention. Two years ago, the district approved auxiliary lights above the front and rear bumpers.

'The thinking was that we'd put lights right in [the motorists'] eyes,” Carlson said. 'That seemed to help.”

Penalties

In March 2012, the Iowa Legislature passed and then Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law the 'Keep Aware Driving - Youth Need School Safety Act,” also known as Kadyn's Law. It was named after 7-year-old Kadyn Halverson, an Iowa girl who was struck and killed by a motorist while attempting to cross the street to board a school bus.

Kadyn's Law included several provisions to reduce school bus-related injuries and fatalities such as expanded school bus safety education, a school bus safety study, and increasing penalties for failure to obey school bus warning lights and stop signal arms.

First offense - Fine of at least $250 or as high as $675; possible jail time of up to 30 days; 30 days without a license.

Second offense - Fine of at least $315 or as high as $1,875; up to one year in prison; 90 days without a license.

Third offense - Fine of at least $315 or as high as $1,875; up to one year in prison; 180 days without a license.

Offense causing serious injury - Extra $500 fine; 90 days without license.

Offense causing fatality - Extra $1,000 fine; 180 days without license.

Washington

Woody Harden is Washington Community School District's transportation director. He estimates that his drivers report three to eight stop arm violations per year, far fewer than the figure Carlson estimated about Mt. Pleasant. All 18 buses in Washington's fleet are equipped with cameras that can record stop arm violations, and any new bus the district purchases will have an additional camera looking forward.

Harden has been the transportation director for 16 years, and so far no stop arm accidents have occurred during that time. He said most of the violations occur in town. In fact, he can pinpoint the road that causes the most trouble - West Madison Street.

West Madison Street was converted from four-lane to three-lane about seven years ago when the road was resurfaced. Though three-lane roads are wider than two-lane, they still follow the same rules: cars from both directions must stop and cannot pass while the stop arm is extended.

'A lot of folks think that because there is a turning lane in the middle, they don't have to stop for the bus, but they do,” Harden said.

Four-lane roads are different. On those, only the cars trailing the bus must stop when its stop arm is extended. Oncoming traffic does not need to stop for a bus on a four-lane road. Buses are not permitted to load or unload children who must cross this type of roadway, unless law enforcement officers or traffic control devices are present.

'This is the only time you may pass a school bus that is stopped and has its stop arm extended,” noted the Iowa Department of Transportation on its website.

Prosecuting cases in Jefferson County

Fairfield has faced the same problem on one of its main thoroughfares that was once four-lane and is now reduced to three. Burlington Avenue is the city's main east-west artery, and it's also the road with the most stop arm violations.

More than 10 years ago, the Highway 34 bypass around the city of Fairfield was completed, and shortly thereafter the Old Highway 34 through Fairfield (Burlington Avenue) was converted from four to three lanes. This meant oncoming cars had to stop for a school bus with its stop arm out.

Jefferson County Assistant Attorney Patrick McAvan, who prosecutes traffic citations, said the change confused drivers and generated a lot of stop arm citations, since warnings were not allowed by law. McAvan said the school district noticed this increase in stop arm violations and has since altered its routes so that the buses stop on side streets when possible. McAvan said this has reduced the number of stop arm cases filed during the past 1.5 years.

McAvan said that, although the law allows for jail time for repeat offender, he cannot recall a case he has prosecuted in which the defendant was sentenced to prison.

'The biggest factor is the specifics of the case … the more intentional and dangerous the act, the harsher the penalty,” McAvan said. 'Most of our cases are simply mistakes of law or a misunderstanding.”

County attorneys routinely seek plea deals in cases where a motorist has been charged with a stop arm violation, and McAvan said this has little to do with the amount of evidence in the case or the perpetrator's criminal history. He said it has more to do with the harsh penalty the law requires, specifically the mandatory suspension of the perpetrator's driver's license.

'The people who were confused when Burlington changed from four lanes to three did not deserve to lose their driver's license for 60 days,” McAvan said. 'The plea bargain process is the only way to exercise discretion in the entire case.”

As McAvan said, it's not possible for officers to give warnings to stop arm violators since the letter of the law states they 'shall” issue a citation if they are able to identify the driver and have reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred. Once an officer files a citation, McAvan receives all the evidence law enforcement possesses to support the prosecution.

'While video is always good, it is not required,” he said. 'I have never felt that I have not had enough evidence to prosecute. Where the video may be more beneficial is in helping law enforcement identify the driver/vehicle, and to determine if he/she has reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred.”

McAvan said that educational campaigns - particularly regarding the rule change for Burlington Avenue - have succeed in reducing stop arm violations over time.

Getting better

Fairfield Community School District Transportation Director Mark Branch agreed with McAvan's assessment that stop arm violations have dropped considerably within a short span of time. Branch is in his third year as transportation director, and remarked that when he arrived in the spring of 2017, he was reporting one or two violations every week.

'This past school year, I was down to five or six for the whole year,” he said.

Branch attributes the decrease to public awareness campaigns such as articles in The Fairfield Ledger that educated people about the law and the consequences of breaking it.

'People don't understand that it's not just a fine or loss of license for [a few months],” Branch said. 'It's also a spike in your insurance premiums for three to five years.”

Branch said half of his 14 buses have exterior cameras to record license plates. If a driver spots a violation, they press a button and that puts a 'red flag” on the recording to alert Branch that there was an incident he should review. In Branch's previous post with the Burlington school district, all of its buses had exterior cameras.