State should pass school bus bill

Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, reprinted by Jacksonville Daily News, March 21, 2017.

Two Republican state senators, Tom McInnis of Rockingham and John Alexander of Raleigh, are sponsoring a bill that would let counties assess civil penalties for passing a stopped school bus when there’s no criminal prosecution. The state Department of Public Instruction is pushing for the bill. It’s easy to understand why: Tragically, seven children have been killed in this state since 2009 by drivers who failed to stop for flashing lights on a school bus. Many more have been injured, and the near misses are incalculable.

The civil tickets allowed by Senate Bill 55 would carry a $400 penalty for the first offense, $750 for the second and $1,000 apiece for the multiple offenders. That’s stiff enough to get anyone’s attention.

Cameras, according to a state education official, caught 3,200 cars passing 1,600 stopped buses in just one day.

Most buses, unfortunately, lack cameras. So we hope the state will also create an easy route for school systems large and small to install them. There should be plenty of private vendors out there willing to lease them for a cut of the fines, as they do with the red-light cameras.

But the most important thing is keeping our kids alive, and this looks like a smart way to do it.

— The Fayetteville Observer, a GateHouse Media newspaper

http://www.jdnews.com/opinion/20170321/editorial-state-should-pass-school-bus-bill