Stop passing school buses

You have to shake your head at how stupid it is for a motorist to illegally pass a stopped school bus. It’s extremely dangerous for children getting on or off a bus and trying to cross the street.

And yet, people still do it.

Dec. 8 changes to the Highway Traffic Act were supposed to address the issue and keep kids safe. The updated penalties for passing a school bus with the flashing red lights activated are now a fine up to $5,000, loss of licence for three months and 12 demerit points taken away.

Sounds steep.

But apparently not steep enough given that Charlottetown police have caught and charged six motorists passing school buses since January.

That doesn’t include the number of motorists who didn’t get caught.

Fortunately, none of these incidents resulted in anyone being struck and injured.

The same can’t be said for a five-year-old New Brunswick boy that was struck by an SUV while boarding a school bus in November. The boy suffered lesions on his spleen and a broken leg.

He’s lucky to be alive.

The changes to the P.E.I. Highway Traffic Act were the result of presentations made to the province’s standing committee on infrastructure and energy in November.

In particular, representatives from the Public Schools Branch shed some light on the problem.

For instance, in the 2016-17 school year, 130 reports of vehicles illegally passing a school bus were received. Of those, 12 resulted in charges.

The Public Schools Branch recommended that Island vehicles start donning licence plates on the front of vehicles as well as the back.

An Island company also pitched its telescopic arm product that is equipped with a video camera, flashing red lights and a stop sign that extends 6.5 feet from the bumper.

It would cost $5,000 to $6,500 per bus to equip the province’s 300 buses.

At the very least, buses need video cameras installed on the front and back to capture the illegal act (and any other illegal acts, such as texting) as well as the offender’s licence plates, which should also be installed on the front and back of vehicles.

The onus is on the province to make these changes happen.

And, given that incidents are still happening since the updated penalties, the message isn’t getting through.

An idea is to treat the punishment the same as impaired driving with a seven-day jail sentence.

This would be in addition to the existing penalties, and hopefully would make motorists think twice about passing a school bus and risking the life of a child.

It may seem strict.

But then again, it’s preferable to the alternative — a charge of dangerous driving causing death.