Clearwater Cracks Down on Passing Stopped School Buses

In 1992, in the city of Largo, Florida, a child was struck and killed by a motorist who failed to stop for a school bus. A 1995 study by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), University of South Florida, regarding school transportation in Florida’s 67 counties documented over 10,000 motorists illegally passing school buses in a one-day period. Although it is a chronic problem, which has generated complaints from both school bus drivers and parents, actual crashes caused by this violation are low. This does not mitigate the seriousness of the violation, as the potential for a serious crash involving a child is a fear that all parents live with. In 1992 Pinellas County Florida has realized that fear.

Pinellas County is one of the most densely populated counties. It is located in West Central Florida in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area. The city of Clearwater is the second largest municipality in Pinellas County, with a population of 100,000. The Clearwater Police Department (CPD) is staffed with 264 sworn officers. The Department is a founding member of the Pinellas County Community Traffic Safety Team (CTST).

In 1998 the City of Clearwater Police Department was awarded a grant by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to work in partnership with the Pinellas Country Community Traffic Safety Team to launch an aggressive enforcement and public information and education campaign to address the problem of motorists illegally passing school buses stopped to load or unload students. The purpose of this project was to help develop programs and initiatives which would then become an integral part of the Clearwater Police Department’s traffic safety operations. The grant project began September 1998 and concluded in December 1999.

Enforcement Operations

Before the project described in this story was implemented in 1998, the Department’s Traffic Team had conducted school bus enforcement operations both locally and in conjunction with the Pinellas County Community Traffic Safety Team. The Department learned through that experience, that conducting specialized enforcement to decrease the incidents of motorists illegally passing stopped school buses was not as easy as it sounded. In spite of having illegal passing report information, there was a need for more information than just the stop location and time of violations. It was found that, if officers were not in the right position to monitor the location, they found themselves blocked in by drivers complying with the law and stopping for a school bus. It was also learned that bus drivers sometimes modified the stop locations. This was common when a replacement bus driver was filling in.

In 1997, only 11 percent of all bus drivers reported passing incidents for a total incident count of 326 passes. Comparing this to the CUTR report, it was realized that a significant number of incidences were not being reported. Unless better data were collected, the CPD would not have a true picture of the problem in Pinellas County.

To overcome these problems, the CPD had planned on using the Department’s civilian volunteers to ride selected routes to document passing problems by recording actual stop locations where violations occurred. Volunteers were poled during development of the project and many expressed an interest in performing this task. However, once the project started that interest waned dramatically. Ultimately, the CPD had to abandon this phase and rely instead on the observations and experience of officers to develop the necessary information to conduct successful operations. Members of the Traffic Section developed stop location information from experience. These data were then shared with patrol officers assigned to operations.

The CPD also hoped to use these observers to help establish a baseline for violations, which would aid in evaluating this program. This change to the program required the Department to increase efforts in improving the ratio of drivers making reports. To encourage drivers to take the time to report motorists illegally passing stopped school buses, the CPD briefed the directors of the five school bus compounds in the county. In addition, police officers met with all of the bus drivers to explain the project during their annual meeting. It was announced that the CPD would recognize those bus drivers who made the most pass reports. It was anticipated that, as officers increased enforcement efforts, drivers would be encouraged to make reports.

After developing information on stop locations, the project was implemented using an overtime detail in Clearwater. Officers were stationed along several problem routes to look for violations. In addition, the CPD worked speed enforcement along the routes between bus stops. This benefitted stop arm compliance by calming the traffic in the bus stop areas. In addition, a school bus component was added to the aggressive driving campaign and several aggressive driving operations were conducted in areas identified as having a high incidence of illegal passing of school buses. The CPD also sent a letter to the Florida Department of Transportation recommending placement of signs warning of bus stops ahead. Variable message boards were deployed on some roadways warning of school bus stops and advising that all traffic was required to stop for buses.

Public Education and Information Campaign

The CPD worked with the Florida Department of Education (DOE) to publicize its efforts and to establish a school bus pass report tip line. In an effort to reach violators, the CPD developed a generic letter on the CTST letterhead, which along with a “Stop for Red or Stop for Blue” tip card, were mailed to the owners of illegally passing vehicles reported by bus drivers. The tip cards described the dangers of passing stopped school buses and were designed to be used as bookmarks. These bookmarks were also distributed through local car washes and bookstores and were inserted in envelopes provided to all traffic violators upon receipt of a traffic citation. In addition, the tip cards were mailed out to all utility customers in the City of Clearwater.

The CPD also reached the general public through posters, a video on a cable access channel, public service ads on monitors in convenience stores, an article in the City magazine, and ads on the Walt Disney Corporation’s AM radio station. Officers also took their message directly to residents of affected areas by making presentations at neighborhood meetings and other traffic safety events (child safety seat checks, bicycle safety) and illustrated the school bus safety message at various locations in the community through the use of “Barney the School Bus” a robotic miniature school bus with working red flashing lights and stop arm.

Results

As a result of this project, the Clearwater Police Department successfully increased citations for illegal school bus passes. In 1997, only 36 citations were issued and, in 1998, that number rose to 49 citations. However, a dramatic increase occurred in 1999, when most of enforcement took place. The Department’s annual number of illegal school bus passes soared to 358 in 1999.

The number of drivers who reported passing motorists also increased, from 11 to 20 percent of the workforce. The CPD found a direct correlation between increased enforcement efforts and school bus drivers’ reporting of motorists passing school buses.

The Department is continuing these enforcement and education efforts to address this problem. With the recent proliferation of email, the CPD has been able to coordinate with the school district to email pass reports to the traffic commanders of all the law enforcement agencies in the major cities of Pinellas County. The CPD has continued to mail follow-up letters to violators documented in the reports. Location sheets, listing bus stop locations, the time, direction of travel, and the best place to observe for violations are being shared with traffic and patrol officers to provide the best possible information to facilitate enforcement.

During the school year, bus enforcement will remain a regular component of the CPD’s monthly aggressive driving enforcement campaign. To further enhance post project enforcement, Clearwater is currently developing plans to use local funds to pay to re-institute the overtime enforcement program.

To learn more information about the Clearwater Police Department’s efforts to improve school transportation safety contact:

Lt. Steve Burch
Clearwater Police Department
645 Pierce Street.
Clearwater, FL 33756
Phone: 727-562-4164
Email: sburch@clearwaterpolice.org