Watch for School Buses with Stop Arm Extended

Duluth, Minn. —  The Duluth Police Department and Voyageur Bus Company are working to inform and educate drivers about the importance of stopping for school buses when the lights are flashing and the stop sign is extended.

On Wednesday morning an educational trip was made to see the problem first hand.  When you see the yellow and red lights flashing and the stop sign extended on a school bus, you must stop.

But too often this isn’t happening in Duluth.  Already, so far this year, more than 90 incidents of people running a bus stop sign have been reported.  Last year’s total for the entire year was  64.

Duluth police officer  Jim Fosytth says, “It’s a big deal. We don’t want to see any kids get hurt. One stop sign violation is too many in the city of Duluth. ”

Anytime a bus driver sees a vehicle not stopping for the lights and sign it gives them pause.”It’s stressful. It’s scary” said Bryan Kent a 30-year school bus driver. Officer Forsyth agreed, “It’s very stressful for them. They are responsible for these kids.”

When you come upon a bus, going in either direction and lights are flashing you must stop. “It’s always a good idea when you see the yellow lights flashing to slow down and expect the bus to be making a stop very shortly, said Forsyth.

No one knows for sure why the number of stoparm violations is up., It may be a person is running late, or they are looking at their phone, or simply because they’ve driven the route so often that they don’t even notice the bus.

But for Bryan Kent, who has been a school bus driver for nearly 30 years it’s happening much too often. On the education run on Wednesday morning, Kent said, “I think I made a total of three stops and we got two people, A little alarming for me,12:35

Kent knows the students on his bus and knows that he is responsible to be sure each student gets to school and home safely, every day. Kent explainedh is prscess of ensuring his students are okay. “I won’t open the doors until the kids are at the front. I’ll activate the reds, and get the kids up there. Then I explain to the kids what I expect them to do when they get off the bus.  And when traffic stops I open the door and let them off. ”

If you see the yellow and red lights on the school bus and don’t stop – It’s’ likely you will see the lights on a police car when you are being pulled over