School Bus Drivers: More Cars Illegally Passing Buses

Fairfax County Public Schools bus drivers say there may be a rise in the number of cars illegally passing school buses.

 “Professional bus drivers with years of experience told us they’re seeing record numbers of motorists driving recklessly around buses picking up and discharging students,” said First Lieutenant Butch Gamble, Assistant Commander of the Traffic Safety Division in the Fairfax County Police Department.

There are more than 1,500 school buses on roads throughout Fairfax County that serve more than 110,000 students daily. Police have issued more than 1,700 summonses to motorists for illegally passing buses during the last five years.

“For even one child to be injured because a motorist is disregarding traffic laws is inexcusable,” said FCPS Superintendent Jack D. Dale. “In the past year, we have had four students hit by motorists while on their way to school. In one instance, a child was crossing the street in a crosswalk when he was hit. I urge all motorists to exercise extreme caution when driving near school buses and bus stops."”

Last year a Woodbridge man, John Mendez, was acquitted in Fairfax County on charges of passing a stopped school bus. The judge ruled that it is not technically illegal to pass a stopped school bus, due to a missing word in the statute. 

The law reads:

A person is guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop, when approaching from any direction, any school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children.

As the law is currently written, one might argue that it is a crime to fail to stop "any school bus which is stopped." Mendez was acquitted on those grounds. 

The General Assembly took steps last week to clarify the law, and the changes are now before the Senate. 

However, police and school officials are concerned over the perceived increase in unsafe driving behaviors around school buses. They ask that people not pass any stopped school buses.