WESTFIELD – Several scofflaws who drove their vehicles past school busses which were stopped with lights flashing this week have found, thanks to ‘Operation Yellow Blitz’, that the moments of time they saved by their actions can come with a hefty price tag.
Westfield police Lt. Jerome Pitoniak, the commander of the department’s Traffic and Safety Bureau, said that the week of Oct. 22-26 was designated National School Bus Safety week and, in the Commonwealth, the Registry of Motor Vehicles asked police departments across the state to participate in ‘Operation Yellow Blitz’ on Wednesday by targeting violators who put children at risk by driving past buses loading or unloading pupils.
Pitoniak said that there are two major problem sites in the city where motorists are prone to passing stopped and flashing school buses – Smith Avenue at the vocational high school and Southampton Road at Colonial Pine Acres – and both sites were targeted on Wednesday and on Thursday as well.
“We did (enforcement) yesterday too” Pitoniak said Friday. “We had three (violators) yesterday and we had four on Wednesday” he said.
Pitoniak said that the problem on Smith Avenue is that parents picking up students park amongst the loading school buses and leave without waiting for the buses.
“People all park between the buses and once their kid gets into the car they drive right out” he said, even though there may be ten busses parked with their flashers on.
The problem at Colonial Pine Acres, Pitoniak said, is that Southampton Road is wide and there are a lot of children living there so it can take some time to load or unload a school bus while drivers get impatient.
He said that, because the road is wide, many operator seem to think they don’t have to stop but he said “If the lights are on, you have to stop” unless the bus is stopped on a divided highway. But, there are not many such roadways in the city, he said.
Pitoniak said that the penalty for passing a flashing school bus is stiff.
“The first offense is $250” he said and added “It’s a moving violation so obviously you’d be surcharged by your insurance company” on top of the fine.
And, the penalties increase if an operator has subsequent infractions.
If a driver is cited a second time within two years the penalty become a fine of $1,000 and the violator’s license is suspended for six months.
A third offense will result in a $2,000 fine and the loss of license for a full year.
Pitoniak said that enforcement will not end in the city with the end of School Bus Safety Week because the problem is a continuing issue.
“We’ve been down on Smith Avenue a few times already” and explained that his bureau sometimes gets complaints from the school bus operators when they see drivers pass their bus. “They will call us and tell us where they’re having an issue” he said and said “We’ll hit that” when a problem site is identified by the bus operators.
“It’s one of those (issues) you have to keep on top of because it’s really dangerous” Pitoniak said.
