Should drivers have to stop for school busses?

[Stargazer]

Yesterday another young school pupil has been killed getting off a school bus in the north east near Fraserburgh.

Is it time to make it law that other drivers have to stop while pupils get off their bus and cross the road safely? Like they do in the States.

[silverfox57]

only one answer is yes,a child life is more inportant than cars having to stop,

[joxville]

I agree with silverfox, the only answer is yes. It's only a minute on your journey compared to a lifetime of grief for a bereaved family.

[rangers1873]

i drive a school bus for wick high and i get worried everytime i drop a kid of with drivers overtaking without looking to see if a kid is going to cross the road. another thing that is bad is the idiots that when the buses are indicating and pulling out to leave the school think that if they go a bit faster they can get past us and not thinking about the kids that run in between the buses to get to the other side.

[teenybash]

There is only one answer..... yes. Perhaps school buses should be redesigned with the exit at the rear so that other drivers can see the children getting off.........

[Bad Manners]

The answer is yes however i would go further and insist that children are given more training on road saftey. The system works well in the states where it is illegal to overtake a school bus even if you are travelling in the opposite direction. everyone knows that the school bus travel between certain times and allow suitable time for their journey.
The other point is the school buses are all painted Bright yellow so as they can be easily recodnised. It would not go amiss if we did the same here.

[joxville]

Only a couple of weeks ago it was on the news about a proposal to have American style school buses over here.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/education/2823924/Give-pupils-American-style-yellow-school-buses-Blunkett-says.html

[tigger2u]

The answer is yes however i would go further and insist that children are given more training on road saftey. The system works well in the states where it is illegal to overtake a school bus even if you are travelling in the opposite direction. everyone knows that the school bus travel between certain times and allow suitable time for their journey.
The other point is the school buses are all painted Bright yellow so as they can be easily recodnised. It would not go amiss if we did the same here.

my answers pretty much the same YES make them stop. On your point about the colour etc If i remember correctly there was a story in the press only a few weeks ago about making all school buses the same type/colour as in the states. Seems like an even better idea now. its so sad that in this country it takes a death before action is taken :(

[The Swedish Chef]

All for making the drivers stop, its a no brainer. But why cant we bring back lollipop ladies (or persons .. :confused) as well. Its been ages since I saw one outside a school.

[alistair harper]

Like everyone out there we had to learn to drive to be safe and i think more should be done to educate the children, they just seem to dart right out in front of you then who gets the blame if they get hit, I for one would never want to knock any one down god forbid a kid. I am always telling my kids about the green cross code we got it in school and none of my friends ever got hit by a car as for lolly pop person they could do with one in castletown.

[pat]

Agree school buses should be one colour nationwide, when they stop and have hazard lights on - traffic in both directions must stop.

All the pupils on the buses should be seated and seat belts secured - punishment by school if not adhered to (exclusion from bus for so many days so parents have to make alternate arrangements to get their children to school and are aware of their childs behaviour).

Youngsters must also be more aware of traffic and how to correctly cross roads.

[northener]

It's a good idea to make school buses stand out by painting them a different colour.

Problem: Many school buses are supplied on a contract basis from local coach companies to whom the 'school run' is a small but necessary addition to their incomes.

Who will fund the re-painting of these coaches and how badly will this affect other areas of their business?
Also, once it is painted yellow - it is a school bus. Period. It cannot be used for taking old wifies to bingo or tourists around the county - that would defeat the whole object of the excercise. Result...companies go bust as their yellow coaches cannot generate enough income.

The real question to be posed is:

Is the Scottish government prepared to invest in a fleet of dedicated School buses?

I'd expect a lot of procrastination in response......

[badger]

Agree school buses should be one colour nationwide, when they stop and have hazard lights on - traffic in both directions must stop.

All the pupils on the buses should be seated and seat belts secured - punishment by school if not adhered to (exclusion from bus for so many days so parents have to make alternate arrangements to get their children to school and are aware of their childs behaviour).

Youngsters must also be more aware of traffic and how to correctly cross roads.

So simple - why can't the government think like that (silly question [disgust] ) ?

[balto]

Definatly yes to this one, as so many kids end up injured or worse killed getting off buses, but unfortunalty the blame doesnt always lie with the driver s most kids and i will included mine with that, think they are going to be ok, but if they step out then it could be to late. but another thing that annoys me, is that, some drivers will stop to let a child across the road, where i inderstand that they are being nice, not every car will stop yet kids get into the habbit of expecting it, and not think to stop. lessons to be learnt from both partys i think.

[Rheghead]

My cousin who was 6 was killed by a car which was overtaking a school bus which was dropping him off so it could have been prevented.

[wifie]

I agree that drivers should take extreme care where a school bus (or any bus) has come to a halt but should the children not be taught to wait at the stop until the bus has moved away to make road crossing safer? I don't think it is practical to have dedicated school buses for the reason already stated by Northener - buses run around here empty half the time as it is!

[northener]

Speaking from 6 years experience of driving through Wick every day when the kids are coming out of High School, I can say that the level of awareness shown by the kids regarding traffic isn't bad...it's terrifyingly bad.

For some reason the girls seem to be worse, they'll step out as a group and, if you're lucky, one of them will have had the sense to look and stop the rest of the group. Sadly, on many occasions, none of them have looked.....

Yellow buses wouldn't be a magical fix - but they'd be a step in the right direction.

[dook]

Yes definately but only on a weekday...........

[Loafer]

The problem we have is simple, but unfortunately is nearly impossible to solve.

In the "Modern World".......EVERYONE IS IN SUCH A BLOODY RUSH!! You can have what colours of buses you like, but there is still one mad driver that will overtake and that basically is where the problem lies.

When I first started driving and went off for my "initiatian" drive to Inverness, you were sure to meet one mad driver on your way down. 15 years down the road, you meet at least half a dozen idiots by the time you reach the end of the Causewaymire.

It is education, education, education, (pardon me pinching Mr A Blair's quote) on the standards and quality of driving that needs to get pushed through.

How many times have you been tail-gated by some numpty on the A9? I have lost count and I now only travel on that mad road during "silent hours" as best as I can.

I am not saying I am a perfect driver, far from it.

What I am asking is at least up here in our humble wee community, is lets make it safe for our kids to get off the bus, and if you are a driver and you are behind one,

"A meenit on til yur churny isna ee end o ee world"

The Loafer

[Tighsonas4]

A PROBLEM
to say the very leastbut as someone has suggested already it calls for education on both sides.school buses or any bus for that matter as well as icecream vans etc is or should be a crawl .
school buses should have special mirrors fitted that gives them a clear view of it all but thats no value if you haave a clown doing 70 regards tony

[pat]

If government were made to supply buses for pupils - many countries do for school children only - the actual cost would really be pretty low compared to the young lives lost.
This would also ensure all pupils have seat belts, at present many buses do not have belts on all seats.

Fair enough the local bus companies would not require so many buses. Their bus drivers would be used as they are at present ferrying pupils, keeping the normal buses in much better condition as would be used less frequently by boisterous pupils.

Instead of hiring out the buses and drivers as at present the firms would only be hiring the drivers and doing the servicing on the school buses.

School buses kept for transporting pupils only and mandatory traffic halt in both directions when bus stops and hazards flashing.

Yes Loafer - if only folk would slow down and remember what they were like as a youngster - forgetful, eager to get home, always in a rush, etc.

[Westsider3]

Perhaps one of the problems with the High School children is because, that more than likely, they have been driven to primary school and not walked! Parents, when walking their child to school, could educate them about road safety. Unfortunately in our busy lifestyles not many parents have time to do this yet expect other people to do it, also for them to fund huge initatives which should be unnecessary.

[wifie]

The local school here teaches "walkwise" to the P3s every year! I think it is a worthwhile thing. Do they not do it in Caithness? Might not stop this dreadful problem with children alighting from buses but it is a start for wee ones and road safety.

[TBH]

How about a designated drop off point for children, off the main road, in school ground where no other vehicles are allowed?

[Tristan]

Cars should stop for school buses. Especially in Caithness where there are a lot of country roads. I also believe there should be proper school buses instead of sending out bus contracts to the lowest bidder.

[LMS]

I agree that traffic should stop in both directions for school buses. School buses at present have yellow signs when they carry school children, maybe these could be enlarged/improved to make school buses more visible. These signs could be covered up on regular runs. In Orkney, there are road signs reminding drivers on school buses.

Maybe we should educate adults in how to walk away from a bus too, so that they can set an example? One night last week, I watched about five adults leave the Dounreay bus and walk straight across the road, behind and infront of it. What hope do the children have if they are witnessing adults crossing like that?

[rockchick]

In America the penalty for passing a school-bus with its lights flashing and its stop-sign out (they have red STOP signs that flip out when dropping off/picking up) in either direction is the same penalty for drunk driving. If UK drivers knew they could lose their license in one go they would pay attention!

[balto]

The local school here teaches "walkwise" to the P3s every year! I think it is a worthwhile thing. Do they not do it in Caithness? Might not stop this dreadful problem with children alighting from buses but it is a start for wee ones and road safety.what a brilliant idea, after all they teach them how to ride their bikes safely when they get into p6, so why not teach them all how to cross the road safely, even give them a certificate at the end of it, it might not work the whole time, but it might give them a better understanding of safety.

[Westsider3]

Children should receive road safety lessons as part of their current curriculum. There are also Walk to School weeks. Children, again, are reminded about road safety then.

Schools can certainly deliver road safety lessons but it is up to each and every one of us to ensure that we set a good example as pedestrians and take exceptional care as motorists.

[Bad Manners]

The system works in America because if you fail to adhere to the sign you recieve a stiff penalty and this is for passing a sign and possablely endangering a child. In this country we only penilise the driver when there is an accident.
Prevention is better than regreating mistakes. On the other hand pedestrians get a penelty if they cross in the wrong place or at the wrong time(Jay walking) this also serves to prevent people crossing without thought.
Both rules would help regarding the current problems overhere.