Bus pickup should be safer
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
2 of 3 free articles.
The safety of school children boarding and departing school buses along Highway 93 is of huge concern to me. In the last two weeks I have witnessed two incidents of young school children boarding buses from the opposite side of the highway, in front of oncoming traffic from the opposite direction. I am relating both incidents to support my request that bus drivers change to only allow pick up from the same side of the road as the bus. I have witnessed opposite side of the highway pick up at Booher Lane, Melita Island Road and just opposite the Polson Airport. This should be illegal in Lake County. Flathead County, according to their bus supervisor, does not allow pickups from the opposite side of the highway and reroutes their buses to prevent this.
The first incident occurred as I was stopped first in line behind the bus at Melita Island Road. As the parents sat in their car on the opposite side of the highway watching, two very small children ran from the car, without looking either way, across the highway. There were moving cars approaching from the oncoming lane from a fairly short distance. I visualized the potential danger and my heart sank. A coworker behind me on the road witnessed the same and we both discussed it at length later. This was an early 7:30 a.m. pick up in twilight on a clear day.
The second incident occurred from the oncoming traffic side of Highway 93 about two weeks later. This occurred just after crossing the Polson bridge in a 35 mph zone. It was dark, snowing, and the roads were patchy with ice. The vehicle involved was driving first in line from the oncoming traffic side. Yellow lights were flashing behind a car, but one could not make out if it was a bus or a snowplow. As they approached about three car lengths away, the yellow lights suddenly turned to red flashing. It was a school bus stopping. At a slowing speed of 25 to 30 mph they applied their brakes to find the road very icy and the antilock brakes went into effect, sliding forward while reducing speed. Suddenly in the obscured vision of the dark, snow and reflecting lights of the bus, several kids ran across the highway to the bus, with the driver of the vehicle sliding through the stop.
A few kids realized the danger and stopped on the opposite side of the highway. I felt like I had seen a miracle just happen. No one was injured or killed. Was the driver at fault for driving too fast for the conditions? Absolutely. Do all drivers need to slow down when approaching oncoming yellow flashing lights in the dark, and snow on highway 93? Absolutely.
We can learn from this. As drivers, whenever oncoming yellow lights are seen, we need to slow down enough for the conditions to possibly stop short of those lights. Is slowing on a busy Highway 93 a possible hazard in itself in dark and snow? Yes, but better to be rear-ended than to hit a young schoolchild.
It should be illegal in Lake County for parents to drop school kids off, or pick up, on the opposite side of Highway 93, for boarding or unloading school buses. School buses should only pick school kids up on the same side of the road as the entry door of the bus. This would eliminate the potential hazard — better to have the buses physical size to protect the kids.
I am asking you to please change the school child pickup policy to make it safer for our kids. Parents could find a road across the highway on the same side as the bus stop to wait. Buses could even turn around so pickup is on the same side as the bus.
Sincerely, from a concerned citizen and Lake County resident.
