Residents around Perry Highway in Summit Township are concerned every morning when their children board buses to go to Fort LeBoeuf Middle School. They are distraught because their kids are crossing busy Route 97. In December, a 13-year-old girl was struck and killed by a 19-year-old who was not paying attention to the school bus or the fact that there were kids crossing the road.
There were about a dozen students at the scene that witnessed the wrongful death and the driver is now facing several charges including vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment, simple assault, and involuntary manslaughter.
In retrospect, Fort LeBoeuf administrators say that they have always taken school bus stop safety seriously, and that particular stop met all safety requirements, but that there has certainly been added focus placed on the situation after the young girl's death.
The initial change was an alternate route for the bus. Instead of crossing Route 97, students can board the bus directly from the entrance into the mobile home park where the accident occurred.
Nearly 7,000 cars and trucks travel the stretch of Perry Highway between Townhall and Robison roads every day according to PennDoT. Most of that traffic is obviously moving through the area during the busy morning and late afternoon hours when people are going to and coming home from work. And these times coincide with children going to and coming home from school. PennDoT has reported that there have been a ridiculous number of crashes in that short stretch of road in the last decade or so-twenty-seven just from 2006 to 2010.
Thankfully, the school bus's route changes will not only be affecting children who live at Popp's Mobile Home Park; administrators say that bus stops were adjusted all along Route 97 to keep students from having to cross the highway. In addition, the district is still looking at ways it can change bus routes on the busy roads that cut through the district such as Route 19, Route 99, and Route 6 North. They have also added bright LED lights to the stop signs that are mounted on the buses and deployed at stops, signifying to all drivers that they must stop their vehicles at least 40 ft. from the bus while children are boarding and exiting the bus.
There is talk of new road signs and cameras being installed on the school buses as well. These cameras will be highly effective in capturing the license plate numbers of negligent drivers who illegally speed past buses when their stop signs are deployed and they are picking up children. School bus drivers are also being trained to record general information about cars and trucks that break this law by writing down the make, model, color, and license plate number if possible when they witness a driver breaking this law.
Being stuck behind a school bus, especially when you're late, can be frustrating; however, it is extremely important that drivers stay patient and follow all laws regarding school bus safety. Five minutes is not worth the life of an innocent child and a lifetime in prison.
http://goerie.com/article/20120208/NEWS02/302089961/Fatal-accident-leads-to-enhanced-safety-for-Fort-LeBoeuf-bus-stops