GCPD Addresses School Bus Safety

Commissioner Ernest Cipullo announces that on March 27, the Garden City Police Department participated in a Statewide traffic initiative entitled Operation Safe Stop. This effort addressed the issue of bus safety, particularly motorists illegally passing a stopped school bus, which is listed as the second leading cause of student transportation fatalities. Statewide, between the years 2002 through 2004, sixty-nine students were injured and one killed by motorists passing a stopped school bus. The main goal of this initiative was to increase public awareness of the hazards posed by passing stopped school buses. Commissioner Cipullo states "Flashing red lights on the top of a stopped school bus means that the bus is picking up or discharging students. It is illegal for any motorist to either pass or overtake a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing." During this initiative, Garden City Police Officers also enforced moving traffic violations in and around bus stop locations and school speed zones.

During Operation Safe Stop, The Garden City Police Department coordinated their enforcement efforts with the Garden City School District Transportation Division. This coordination resulted in police officers following selected school buses along their morning and afternoon routes with marked and unmarked police vehicles. During this initiative, Garden City Police Officers issued 44 traffic tickets for various traffic violations including but not limited to: passing stopped school buses, speeding in school zones and/or at bus stop locations, passing stop signs at bus stop locations and cell phone usage at bus stop locations. One motorist was even arrested for aggravated unlicensed operation for operating a vehicle with a suspended license. The first time penalty for illegally passing a stopped school bus is a $350 fine, five points on your license and/or possibly up to thirty days in jail.

During this initiative, it was found that many motorists do not know that they have to stop for a school bus flashing its red lights, whether they are passing the school bus from the front or overtaking it from the rear, particularly on divided highways or on school grounds.