School Bus Safety Becoming a Concern

Rita Manski cringes every time she stops her school bus to drop kids off on Greentree Road.

It doesn’t matter that she’s activated the flashing red lights and deployed the stop sign. Cars traveling in the opposite direction of the four-lane road sometimes don’t stop, putting the students in danger.

“I don’t care what the fine is,” she said. “If you hit a kid, there’s nothing you can do.”

Manski, a school bus driver for 16 years, voiced her concerns to the Chartiers Valley School Board during its Tuesday night voting meeting. She asked if the district could work closely with local police departments to monitor dangerous roads.

District Superintendent Brian White Jr. said he plans to contact area police departments to see what, if anything, can be done. Manski admitted this problem is not new, but she’s concerned that it is getting worse in some areas.

said he’s not surprised by the problems because many motorists are unaware they must stop for school buses, even if they’re driving in the opposite direction of a four-lane highway. The only time motorists do not have to stop is if there is a divided median between the opposing lanes.

“Greentree Road has always been like that because it’s four lanes,” Secreet said. “With four lanes, they don’t think they have to stop. We also have those problems on Route 50 and anywhere there isn’t a divider.”

He said that many bus drivers recently participated in the “Operation Safe Stop” sting that encouraged them to record license plate information of violators and report them to police. Secreet said the operation “tagged a few” violators.

Manski, though, said it’s difficult to view the license plates of cars that go by while also getting a description of the driver.

A violation could include a 60-day license suspension and $250 fine.