ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Marblehead police have determined the threat posed by school bus scofflaws is severe enough to put police officers on buses and driving undercover to catch violators.
They will be on buses and lurking in traffic to catch drivers who pull around stopped school buses and run the risk of hitting and killing a kid.
It’s amazing to think any driver would violate common sense, not to mention the law, and flaunt the stop sign that flops out from the side of a school bus when it rolls to a stop. Astonishing as it may sound, Marblehead police have determined the threat posed by school bus scofflaws is severe enough to put police officers on buses and driving undercover to catch violators.
Marblehead is the community that spawned a home-grown traffic awareness campaign in 2009 following the death of 15-year-old Allie Castner. It’s not hard to spot a “Slow Down for Allie” sticker around the North Shore and the campaign has undoubtedly put a dent in speeding.
To their credit, Marblehead police officers are not waiting for another tragedy to strike before they clamp down on irresponsible and selfish drivers. The department’s timing on the crackdown is good because, with school ending in weeks, now is the time to remind drivers about the amplified alertness that underscores summer driving.
Warm weather means more kids on bicycles, riding skateboards and walking around with their ears and eyes focused on music and social media. The days when kids played in the streets until dusk have been consigned to the memories of people over 50. But kids still dash from behind parked cars and ignore crosswalks.
In Lynn and Saugus, police officers and teachers worked throughout this school year to educate students about traffic dangers and the several-step process involved in safely crossing a street. Lynn teachers estimate thousands of local students walk to school and that number increases in warm weather months. School officials have embraced a state program to encourage students to walk to school in groups or with their parents. The initiative is aimed in part at promoting physical fitness but it is also intended to draw driver attention to the number of students crossing streets on their way to school
State officials and Lynn educators are pinpointing neighborhood routes to schools and identifying parts of the city where large numbers of students walk. The walk map, once it is completed, will help zero in on traffic enforcement with the goal of keeping kids safe and intensifying efforts to educate them in safe street crossing rules.
Marblehead police might want to boost their school bus safety campaign by requiring scofflaw drivers to spend an hour outside a school in the morning or afternoon watching kids cross streets and climbing aboard or exiting buses. It might just save a kid’s life.
