GREENSBORO, North Carolina — Did you know the school bus is the safest vehicle on the road?
School buses are designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in preventing crashes and injuries.
In fact, according to the United States Department of Transportation, students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely when taking a bus instead of traveling by car.
In North Carolina, more than 13,000 school buses carry about 790,000 students to and from school every day.
Even though school buses are designed to be safe on the road, motorists must still be on the lookout for students getting on and off the bus.
The North Carolina "School Bus Stop" law makes it illegal to pass a school bus with its red lights flashing and stop-arm extended that is stopped to load or unload students.
But, according to the United States of Department of Transportation, some motorists simply choose to ignore the law:
- They might be coming toward the bus, decide that no students are crossing the road, and just keep going.
- They might be behind the bus, pull into the left lane, and go around the bus.
- They might be behind the bus, pull onto the shoulder, and pass the bus on the right.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the solution to stop-arm violations require the involvement and cooperation of many groups - motorists, school bus drivers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and local judicial officials - to make sure the law is obeyed, violations are reported, and the law is enforced.
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office is already stepping up to plate and cracking down on drivers speeding past school buses.
Last month, Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough, Jr. started a new school bus safety initiative.
It requires deputies to monitor local school bus stops using flashing blue lights in hopes of alerting motorists to slow down, stop, and obey the law.
"We have our deputies activate their blue lights in hopes of getting the public to slow down and realize that there are children getting on buses," said Captain Josh Foster with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. "The goal is not to write citations or take people to jail. The goal is just to keep our children safe."
Deputies are focused primarily on school bus stops in low-light areas with heavy traffic.
"The public needs to know that they can expect to see some of our Sheriff's patrol cars in the early morning hours at some of the school bus stops," said Captain Foster. "We've identified problem areas with large numbers of school bus stop-arm violations and we try to be in those areas."
If you do not obey the "School Bus Stop" law, you could face a fine of $500 or worse, end an innocent child's life.