School has opened around the country - yes, some places started last month, but it's a done deal everywhere now.
My office is a few blocks away from a school, and with my hours, I usually am on my way back to the office after lunch around 2:30-3 pm.
And every September, it seems as though drivers either forget over the summer or are just increasingly becoming less tolerant of school children who aren't picked up by their parents and shuttled door-to-door.
When the school bus driver activates the amber flashing lights, prepare yourself to stop in a matter of seconds... when the bus stops, the flashing lights switch to the red units and the arm swings out, STOP. Don't roll up on the bus at 5 mph, don't ease towards the kids as they cross the street... STOP. And for crying ouyt loud... NEVER PASS THE BUS. Where I used to live, the landlord had a handicapped child, and a small lift-equipped bus came to the front door every day to pick up Josh in his wheelchair. Mind you, this is a tertiary street, one block long. The bus driver, really nice older gent, would stop the bus, lights flashing, and position the lift while the father brought Josh out. I was watching this daily ritual one morning when some genius in a Honda Accord attempted to pass the bus... on the door side. The bus driver, who just missed getting picked off by this loser, absolutely freaked on the car driver.
When i was a kid taking the bus, in the early and mid 70s, this wasn't as bad. But the last couple of years, I have seen people approach a stopped school bus, lights flashing, stop arm out, children actively boarding or getting off, and seen some of the dumbest moves by drivers. One idiot actually blew his horn at the bus immediately in front of him, apparently annoyed that the process wasn't fast enough for his liking.
Same for crosswalks attendaed by crossing guards... when they walk out into the street with their Stop sign raised, you can't proceed. Period.
Bad enough we've lost courtesy to other adults on the road, but give the kids a shot at it, ok?
