Northampton — This week is National School Bus Safety Week, and the city has recently taken noticeable action to raise awareness about the issue of people illegally passing school buses.
In recognition of the week, which runs through Friday, Mayor David Narkewicz issued a proclamation at an Oct. 12 School Committee meeting.
“It’s an important issue every day of the year,” Narkewicz said this week.
Additionally, the School Committee screened a locally-produced YouTube video highlighting how it is illegal to pass a stopped school bus with its lights flashing — on either side of the street.
Ward 4 Councilor Gina-Louise Sciarra said that a driving force behind the city’s efforts has been parent Sam Hopper, whom Sciarra described as a “remarkable parent advocate.”
“Almost every morning she sees people pass the bus,” Sciarra said.
Hopper raised her concerns about people passing stopped school buses at a Sept. 21 City Council meeting, where she also noted a Sept. 20 accident in which a 7-year-old girl was hit by a car that went around a school bus after the car’s driver thought the school bus driver was signaling her to pass. The child was not seriously injured.
The day after the accident, Hopper said that Police Chief Jody Kasper approached her with the idea to do the public service announcement.
“She’s been really responsive this whole time,” said Hopper, referring to Kasper and praising the efforts of the police department.
Hopper, Sciarra, Kasper and other members of the police department worked on the script for the Youtube video, which was filmed by Northampton Community Television a few weeks ago. In the video, a car passes a school bus with its stop sign out and flashing lights on. A police officer pulls the car over and is then given excuses by a number of different “drivers,” all of whom are students in Northampton’s elementary schools. At least one student from each of the four schools is represented.
“The PSA was awesome,” said Hopper, although she acknowledged being biased, as she has a child in it.
As for the excuses, Sciarra said that police have heard every one of them from actual drivers who pass school buses.
“Those are all excuses that have been given to the police before,” she said. “Often many times.”
The video has racked up more than 1,200 views since it was posted.
Sciarra and the rest of the City Council will vote on a resolution at its Thursday meeting in support of bills before the Massachusetts legislature that she said would allow drivers who pass stopped school buses to be cited based on pictures taken by equipment installed on the bus.
Sciarra said that vehicles cannot currently be ticketed based solely on video evidence in Massachusetts, and that this exception would only apply to passing a school bus violation.
“I’m very much hoping for a unanimous vote,” Sciarra said.
The city’s Transportation and Parking Commission is co-sponsoring the resolution, along with Ward 3 Councilor James Nash.
Hopper said the biggest deterrent to passing buses is for violators to receive tickets, but that there are not enough police to enforce it regularly.
“They can’t be there every day,” Hopper said . “They have a lot of responsibilities, not just my daughter’s bus.”
As such, she is supportive of the legislation, which is contained in H. 1900 and S. 2100.
Hopper also noted that in Northampton, the fine for a first violation is $255.
While acknowledging this information as anecdotal, Hopper said that she didn’t see anyone pass the bus at the stop on South Street and Hebert Avenue where her 6-year-old daughter gets off and on, the week after two drivers in one day were pulled over on South Street for passing a stopped school bus with its lights flashing.
She also said that Kasper is increasing patrols around school bus pick up and drop off areas for National School Bus Safety Week.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com