We were glad to see that the Garden City Police Department has conducted bus safety inspections, and that the buses passed with flying colors. (Out of 20 buses, only three had violations which were described as for minor equipment.)

Whenever the police conduct surprise inspections of trucks travelling on Village roads, a stunning number of tickets are issued, and a large fraction (often around a third) of the trucks are taken out of service because their violations are egregious. In some cases, trucks are travelling with inadequate brakes or are seriously overloaded.

Lest anyone think that the Garden City Police are particularly harsh on truckers, similar results have been obtained at truck stops conducted by the Nassau and Suffolk police departments. Clearly, there are far too many dangerous trucks on New York roads.

Obviously, school buses carrying dozens of children should be held to an even higher standard than trucks, and we are glad to hear that the various operators are complying with the laws.

During the bus safety check, the police also ticketed aggressive drivers around school bus stops as well as two people who drove around the red flashing bus lights.

This is another area that needs vigilance, and we hope the police continue to monitor the situation. We have on several occasions seen people, apparently rushing to get to work, drive way too fast and even pass the stopped school bus, just to save a few minutes time. This is so incredibly dangerous -- at any given moment, a child could dart into the street, believing he was safe and get run over.

If any parents see aggressive driving or people passing the bus at their child’s bus stop on a regular basis, we urge you to contact the police department and let them know of the situation.

Meg Morgan Norris Publisher