Kanawha schools conduct illegal bus passing survey

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Over the next week, Kanawha County school bus drivers will be tracking how many illegal school bus passes take place on their routes.

The drivers began a national survey Wednesday conducted by the Kanawha County Schools Transportation Department. Results will be released May 10.

Brette Fraley, school transportation director, said the goal is have zero illegal passes.

“We do feel like one is too many,” Fraley told MetroNews.

The school system has seen a decrease in illegal passes over the last two years, but Fraley said it’s still a problem.

“I came in 2014. We had 93 illegal passes. Last year, we had 72 illegal passes and this year we’re hoping for a huge reduction,” he said.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1,332 people were killed in school-transportation related crashes from 2005-2014 — an average of 133 fatalities per year. During that time, 111 school-age pedestrians under the age of 18 died in school bus wrecks. More than 60 percent were struck by school buses.

Fraley said a typical day in the United States includes nearly 86,000 illegal passes.

“The largest increase in illegal passes is on the right hand side. It’s a two percent increase, but it’s still a lot when you’re doing 86,000 a day — that’s the side that children are getting off the bus on,” he said.

Kanawha City has been a problem area with nearly 40-50 illegal passes, Fraley said. He’s hoping to see that number drop dramatically.

The message to drivers is simple, Fraley said: “Stop for the buses.”

“The yellow lights on the bus will be on 200 feet before the red. When you see the yellow light, you know the bus is going to stop, so you should prepare yourself to stop as well,” he said.

School transportation officials installed video cameras on school buses last year. Fraley said the video footage has helped them crack down on the illegal passing issue.

More than 150 forms from school bus drivers will be collected at the end of the week. The data will then be released to the public.





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