The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

New state law tightens school bus safety

Autos must stop whenever school buses unload children

By Katherine Petersen

Drivers in Sunnyvale and Cupertino may find it takes a little longer to get to work if they cross paths with any school buses after New Year's Day.

As of Jan. 1, all school buses will flash their red lights whenever they stop to load or unload passengers, according to a new state law passed Oct. 7.

Current law requires buses to flash their red lights when the driver gets out to help children across streets. Now, whenever a bus is unloading--even in school driveways where parents are dropping off children in cars--the lights will flash and traffic must come to a stop.

"More than one bus comes to a site at once. There are a lot of parents dropping their kids off and picking them up that can get jammed up," said Chuck Corr, director of business services for the Cupertino Union School District.

The wait "can be quite a while if a driver has to load or unload a child in a wheelchair," said Ken Sturges, who works in the operations department at the Sunnyvale Elementary School District.

The SESD, which runs six buses daily for children in English-language development and special education programs, as well as kids who live in hazardous areas, has already reviewed its bus stop locations and hasn't changed any.

Each district has the option to exempt a particular bus stop from the red light requirement after a consultation with the California Highway Patrol. But the district would still be liable if an accident occurred.

Buses must park on the street to load and unload kids at five of the Sunnyvale district's 10 schools.

"We're taking the stand that we will turn on the lights at every school bus stop," Sturges said. "We're not asking for any exemptions at all."

The Cupertino Union School District, which runs 45 buses as well as contracting with other companies to transport 400 other students, has taken a similar position, Corr said.

"We're trying to figure out how we're going to deal with this," Corr said. "We know we're going to get phone calls. People are going to want to know what's going on."

While CUSD has only four or five schools at which buses must park on the street, the red light requirement applies on school driveways as well.

The law came about after a child was hit crossing a street after a school bus had already departed, Sturges said.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 17, 1997.
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