Albemarle is using GPSs to crack down on drivers whizzing by stopped school buses, Brandon Shulleeta writes in the Daily Progress. No longer willing to tolerate people who ignore the flashing red lights and the prominent “STOP” sign displayed on the side of school buses when kids are climbing on or going home, the county is putting to work the $213k worth of bus-tracking systems that they bought a year ago to optimize bus routes and track their locations in real time. By having that trail of data, it becomes much easier to get a conviction against the drivers in court, although it remains necessary to get the car’s license plate number.
Consider this a reminder: Save for on a road with a median, you always have to stop for a school bus—on either side of the road—when it stops to discharge or pick up passengers. And while I’m handing out reminders, pull over to the far lane when an emergency vehicle is parked on the side of the road on a four-lane road, and, for God’s sake, how hard is it to pull over and let emergency vehicles pass?
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