North Carolina Stiffens Law Targeting Illegal Passers

By Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

RALEIGH , N.C. - Effective Sept. 1, a new state law increases the penalty for anyone convicted of illegally passing a stopped school bus with its stop arm extended or red flashing lights engaged.

 Motorists who cause bodily harm to any person while in the process of illegally passing a school bus face a newly created Class 1 felony violation, with possible prison time. The law also reclassifies the violation of illegally passing a stopped school bus from a Class 2 misdemeanor to a Class 1 misdemeanor.

 Rep. Dale Folwell introduced House Bill 1400, the School Bus Safety Act, in April. Six year ago, his son Dalton was struck and killed in Winston-Salem by a passing motorist as he prepared to board his school bus. The driver received 100 hours of community service.

"She was a chemical engineer who didn't know what the word (stop) meant," said Folwell, a former Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools board member.

He said he is also preparing legislation to attach a 16-ounce flag pole on the stop arm mechanism. He also plans to fund a pilot project using his own money.

"The idea of putting a flag on stop arm is just another approach to give notice, warning to the driver," said Doug Punger, general counsel to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. "One of the excuses is (motorists) say they didn't see it. I find that hard to believe."

Punger said the school district is also looking into incorporating cameras linked to the stop arm to catch offenders on tape, but so far the school board has yet to determine how affective the surveillance is.

"There's an argument the camera may, may be a deterrent," he said. "(But) am I really going to get anything of value for the cost? How much can you store electronically? We're not necessarily convinced yet."

Derek Graham, North Carolina's director of pupil transportation at the Department of Public instruction, said conversations with school bus vendors and the state highway patrol indicate the flag is not in violation with existing motor vehicle laws.

"It looks as if we will try the flag and see where it leads," he said.

He added that he has shared available stop arm technology with Rep. Folwell, including Transpec's "Bus is Stopping" sign and strobe lights.

A major issue with the cameras, said Punger, is whether they can adequately capture the motorist's face. Unlike other states, such as Arkansas, North Carolina doesn't have a civil law on the books that allows convictions based solely on a license plate number.

Source: School Transportation News, September 2005. All rights reserved.