On March 31, we discussed questionable driving behavior by some of Floyd County’s school bus drivers. A check revealed buses not obeying the stop sign at East Main Street and Barberry Road in Floyd and speeding by some drivers on U.S. 221 north of town and on Sandy Flats Road.
We were told that a copy of the article was distributed to bus drivers. On Monday, we decided to check to see if shining the spotlight on poor driving practices improved the driving habits of school bus drivers.
Using a high-definition video camera and a telephoto lens, we videotaped buses at the intersection of East Main and Barberry as school let out on Monday afternoon. As the video above clearly shows, three out of the four school bus drivers videotaped broke the law by running the stop sign. Two ran through the sign without even slowing while a third slowed but did not come to a complete stop as required by law. In one case, a bus pulls out in front of an oncoming car. Other buses observed Monday did stop.
The buses weren’t alone in breaking the law. As the vidieo shows, drivers of several cars also ran the stop sign.
We had hoped to find increased attention to traffic laws and more concern for the safety of school children who use the county’s school transportation sysem. We had hoped to hear from the school administration that some action would be taken to correct the problem. We had hoped the sheriff’s department and State Police would step up enforcement of bus drivers who routinely break the law.
Guess we hoped for too much.
(A larger version of this video is available here.)
It used to be a yield sign. I have to remind myself every time to stop because for many years I only yielded. It’s a hard habit to break.
There used to be a yield sign at that intersection. It was changed to a stop sign several years ago.
Yep they’re breaking the law. If you would happen to be driving anyone of those buses I’ll put money on it you’ll do the same. Consider the weight and the length of what your driving and the speed of the traffic that is coming at you, it is the logical thing to do. My suggestion is get a speed detector and read how fast the oncoming traffic is coming. I’ve always been amazed how fast 25 miles a hour is thru town and at which part it is posted. Is it just 25 thru town limits and goes to 35 in the county section of the greater Floyd, where it should continue to be 25 mph. Lets get real with the timing of school letting out and the amount of traffic that passes at that point. Is an automatic “schools out sign” with posted limit and lights, out of the question? Not to mention that there are school children walking on the sidewalks and shortly there after the cross-country team will be making their way down and around thru town. It should be 15 MPH from 3pm till 3:45pm from Exxon to the Xpress. Or for those who don’t want more signs maybe the sheriff should be parked at the Exxon at school dismissal. How do like getting out of Oxford onto 221 with cars rolling out and into town? I can’t help but think we all are breaking the law with speeding thru town at the limit that is posted or not posted. Let us all watch our speed as we pass thru town!