Some Arkansas Motorists Posing School Bus Passing Threat at Stops

MONETTE, Ark. — School officials here are urging commuters to stop while students are dropped off and picked up at stops along a new highway bypass, KAIT reports.

The bypass, which opened in November, is apparently causing confusion for motorists, some of whom are not stopping for school buses when their red lights are flashing, Robbie Shirley, the transportation director for Buffalo Island Central School District, told the news source. Shirley added that motorists seem to think that they can pass the buses now because the bypass is now a four-lane road with a turning lane. However, motorists still need to stop, because there is not a median dividing the lanes.

One student recently had a close call as a motorist passed a stopped bus on the right side of the highway, Shirley told KAIT. He said the bus driver was able to grab the student by the backpack that she was wearing and pull her back into the bus, and that she probably would have been struck by the car if he hadn’t done so.

Shirley also told the news source that the Monette Police Department has since placed more police in bus stop-heavy areas before and after school, and that the school district has adjusted bus routes to prevent students from having to cross the highway.

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