Sue Kiefer's office is cluttered with 100 license plate numbers, scrawled on the backs of envelopes, paper towels and napkins.
Those are the numbers that Laidlaw Transit bus drivers jotted down last week as motorists ignored a new law requiring them to stop whenever a school bus halts to pick up or drop off children.
The law went into effect Jan. 1. In the five school days since then, it seems that almost no one has been paying attention--even though every bus is emblazoned with words warning motorists to stop when its red lights are flashing. Kiefer, the head of bus driver training at Laidlaw's Altadena yard, said two of the fleet's buses have had their stop signs knocked off by passing motorists.
"It's been a rough week," Kiefer said. "I hope it will get better."
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For years, motorists have had to halt for school buses--but only when children were crossing the street. The bus drivers got out of their vehicles, held up a stop sign and activated their buses' blinking red lights. Then they shepherded the children across the street as cars waited.
But last year Gov. Pete Wilson signed a bill pushed by parents of a 7-year-old Orange County boy killed when he was hit by a truck after getting off a school bus. The Thomas Edward Lanni School Bus Safety Act requires bus drivers to flash their red lights when children are boarding or getting off the bus on any public or private road--even if they are not crossing the street.
And when those lights flash, motorists on both sides of the street must come to a complete halt--unless there is a median dividing the thoroughfare or drivers are within 200 feet of an intersection. Failure to do so may result in a fine of up to $1,000. Three convictions in seven years for failing to stop for a bus leads to mandatory driver's license suspension.
Despite the hefty penalties, motorists historically did not obey the flashing lights, authorities say. "It was hard enough for people to remember to do it on those rare occasions when bus drivers escorted kids across the street," California Highway Patrol Officer Caley McCune said.
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And although bus drivers have had hours of training on the statute, most motorists are unaware of the new law, drivers and authorities say. The bill signed by Wilson provided no money for publicity. One company has donated a handful of billboards across the state to publicize the measure, and local authorities have tried to spread the word through the news media. A few schools are mailing letters home to parents, and some groups are recording public service announcements that they hope television stations will air.
