Motorists reminded: Stop when school bus lights flash

Some Lake Havasu City motorists are not stopping when a school bus' red lights are flashing, raising the risk of a child being run over crossing the street, a school official said Friday.

“We have a real problem with that in Havasu,” said Ron Nelson, the Lake Havasu Unified School District's transportation director. “We have kids who have to cross the street. There's students' lives at stake here.”

On average, 30 U.S. children each year are killed getting on or off their school bus, according to the U.S. Congressional Committee on Labor and Human Resources. It released its findings in a 1995 report entitled “School Bus Safety Issues.”

No Lake Havasu City student has died or been injured crossing the street in Nelson's three years as transportation director. But in past years, “we've had some near misses,” he said.

“One of these days, there's just no doubt in my mind a kid's going to get hit and (be) injured or killed, and then we're going to have a pickle,” Nelson said.

Being in a hurry is the No. 1 reason why motorists do not stop when a school bus' red lights are flashing, according to the committee's report. Talking on a cell phone or changing the radio station is second.

Last year, the number of local motorists who failed to stop increased as the school year went on, Nelson said. Few were caught because bus drivers often could not write down the motorist's license number in time.

Not stopping when a bus' lights are flashing is a class-three misdemeanor, meaning the violator has to appear in court. If convicted, a motorist faces a $500 fine plus surcharges, according to the Lake Havasu City Municipal Courthouse.

The district buses about 1,000 students a day to and from Daytona and Thunderbolt middle schools and Nautilus Elementary. There also are six buses that go door to door for special needs students, Nelson said.

In the winter, school buses load in the dark. Because residential streets do not have streetlights, children are harder to see.

“I just think their awareness needs to go up a little bit,” Nelson said. “We got some young lives here.”

The speed limit in school zones is 15 mph. Not all schools have crossing guards. Because children do not always look before they cross, “there's a big danger there also,” he said.

Speeding in a school zone carries $165 fine, according to the Lake Havasu City Municipal Courthouse.

You may contact the reporter at raap@havasunews.com.