Distracted Driving Threatens School Bus Safety
By Chad Jensema, Director of Transportation, Superior School District
Each school day many big, yellow school buses are out on the streets and roadways transporting students in the School District of Superior, often motorists have a hard time seeing them.
By law you must stop for the bus when the reds are flashing and the stop arm is extended. This indicates that there are students loading or unloading the bus. During this process drivers are to stop their vehicle and wait to proceed until the bus driver turns off the stop sign and reds and starts to move the bus.
A District of Superior School Bus
The safety of our students depends on all drivers being focused and aware of traffic and their entire surroundings. Drivers today have more distractions than ever. According to the Distraction.gov website, “distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety.”
These types of distractions include:
- Texting
- Using a cell phone or smartphone
- Eating and drinking
- Talking to passengers
- Grooming
- Reading, including maps
- Using a navigation system
- Watching a video
- Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player
This is not an exhaustive list, but doing something while driving that takes your attention and focus from the road is distracted driving. Also a reminder, texting while driving in Wisconsin is against the law. Please use extra caution around the yellow school buses, they are in fact transporting the most precious cargo on the roadway.
The Price of Texting While Driving in Wisconsin
The penalty for a first offense for violating the texting law is a fine of $20 to $400 and up to four points on the driving record of the offender. Second-time offenders face a fine from $200 to $800.Wisconsin’s texting laws are considered “primary” laws, as is the prohibition on all cell phones for bus drivers. A primary law means that an officer can pull you over for the offense without having to witness some other violation. That is, the officer sees you texting and issues a citation.
