One mom says fewer cars are passing her son’s bus. But others say the problem is still critical.

GREENE – Beth Hutchinson no longer worries about cars passing her son’s stopped school bus.

It rarely happens anymore.

Last fall, the Greene mother of two anxiously waited every day as her son’s bus stopped on Route 202. Despite the flashing red lights and extended stop sign, vehicles often pulled around the bus and sped off, sometimes nearly hitting the bus, another car or Hutchinson’s son as he crossed the street.

Nothing – including high fines- seemed to help.

“It’s just the danger of this. If not Tyler, then someone is going to get hurt,” she said last fall.

Since an article about the issue appeared in the Sun Journal last November, Hutchinson said she’s seen a dramatic change. Cars used to pass her son’s bus once a week or more.

It has happened only once or twice in the past six months.

“It’s definitely gotten better,” she said.

But not for everyone. Across the state, others still struggle with the problem every day.

“We’ve got to do something,” said Kevin Mallory, transportation director for the Portland school system and president of the Maine Association for Pupil Transportation. “Like I said before, it’s a tragedy waiting to happen.”

According to the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, no child has been killed by a car passing a stopped school bus since 1996. It is unclear when the last student was injured.

But parents and transportation officials say “near misses” have become increasingly common over the years. Hutchinson first became alarmed two years ago when one driver nearly ran into another who’d stopped for her son’s bus. She said a collision would have sent the two vehicles careering into the school bus just as her son was getting off.

Since the issue got media attention last fall, some people have seen improvement.

Only one or two cars have passed Hutchinson’s school bus in the past six months, she said. She’s seen more police lately, with officers driving through the area and staking out spots to catch violators after school.

In Lewiston, the Police Department has a dedicated team that targets traffic scofflaws. Officers pay special attention to people who pass stopped school buses, sending out extra patrols before and after school, and watching areas where they’ve received complaints.

Theresa Samson, owner of Hudson Bus Lines in Lewiston, said she’s seen an improvement. Last fall, cars passed her buses every day. Now it’s down to once a week, she said.

In their own world’

But others say all drivers haven’t gotten the message.

Brenda Ouellette, a mother of four, lives on Main Street in Lewiston, just a few houses from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge. When her kindergartner gets off the bus just before noon, she said, cars on the busy road rarely seem to notice.

“It’s like they’re in their own world,” she said. “They don’t even see the bus.”

Ouellette’s mother was nearly hit by a car earlier this year when she stepped into the street to get her grandson from the bus.

“It’s not like it’s just one car when the lights turn from yellow to red. The bus is stopped, the red lights are on and the cars are just streaming by,” she said.

At the Maine Association for Pupil Transportation, Mallory hasn’t seen any change in Portland or throughout most of the state.

“One word: nope,” he said. “We still have a rash of people passing stopped school buses. It’s an ongoing struggle.”

Because cars often speed when they pass stopped school buses, many bus drivers have trouble recording their license plate numbers. When they do, numbers get faxed to the local sheriff’s office or police department. Drivers and car owners can be fined at least $250 and can lose their licenses for 30 days.

The Secretary of State’s Office said more than 130 people had their driver’s licenses suspended for passing stopped school buses in 2002, the last year that such information is available.

Mallory’s group is planning a public relations campaign in the fall to educate drivers about the issue.

“Just remind people this is the law and they need to be careful,” he said.

Brenda Ouellette hopes it helps. She doesn’t like the alternative.

“At some point,” she said, “someone is going to get hurt.”

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