School bus driver violations

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This letter appeared in the Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) on 20 March 2001.

This item may be cited as M. R. Franks, Letter to the Editor: School bus driver violations, Baton Rouge Advocate, March 20, 2001, at 6B.

Dear Editor:

The buck stops on our police chief's desk. In this column five years ago, I implored our former police chief to "ticket bad school bus drivers" and begin a long-overdue crackdown on these most offensive school-zone violators (The Advocate, Jan. 2, 1996, Page 8B). I commented on how some school bus drivers roar through 20-mph zones as if they owned them. And tailgate. And cut in front of cars as if the right-of-way laws just aren't meant for them. I remarked that school bus drivers are driving role models for our parish's future motorists, and their behavior will be reflected in the way many teens drive.

Last week (see The Advocate, March 16, Page 2B) a school bus allegedly disobeyed a stop light, cutting in front of a car having the right of way, sending five children and one motorist to the hospital in the process. This accident might have been avoided had the good chief heeded my advice and started ticketing a clear and consistent message to bus drivers five years ago.

Let's hope Pat Englade, our new police chief, doesn't wait until a child is killed before instructing his officers not to turn a blind eye every time someone entrusted with our children drives like a maniac and commits violations that would cost anyone else his or her driving privileges.

M. R. Franks
2 Swan St.
Baton Rouge

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