Go on red. Tell me what happens. Intrigue me with the details of lives unhinged and broken because of your inept decision to continue on your course, when all of the world told you, begged you, pleaded with you, to stop. I will listen to your words. I will visualize the pain of the families burdened with the unimaginable task of burying their loved one, gone far sooner than the heavens ever intended. I will witness the formidable force of guilt weigh you down to the lowest level of humanity. And I will make a decision for myself. I will promise for the continuation of a child’s innocence and a parent’s encompassing love that I will never place my impatience and oblivion so highly among my priorities that I become blinded to one of the most
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80,000 opportunities for a child to be struck by a moving multi-ton vehicle came and went in a single day of measurement. When applied to an entire school year of bus operation, more than fourteen million bus traffic violations occur. This is a staggering number and is one that is a result of a lack of awareness concerning how situations dealing with school buses should be handled, likely caused by a lack of educational campaigns used to increase knowledge of bus safety laws and practices. The use of awareness programs would more than likely lead to a decline in the number of these violations, thus providing an increase in the safety of bus-riding students; an increase that will always be welcomed unanimously by the general public. A program modeled after the seatbelt campaign, “Click it or Ticket”, is one such way to effectively increase national awareness of this …show more content…
One way to accomplish this is to hardline the enforcement of current laws against passing stopped buses with lights or stop signs. In Texas, the punishment for illegally passing school buses is a fine of up to $1,250. In 2013, 566 tickets were aptly given for this crime (DPS). Using the statistic previously mentioned regarding total violations in the United States, proportionally, each school year in Texas, there are roughly 54,000 violations. If this is a reasonably accurate number, then only about 1% of the total violations in Texas in 2013 resulted in a fine. This is an unacceptable rate of punishment for this illegal activity, and only our law enforcement can make the difference to further implement the current legal repercussions. There is also the pressing issue of deaths and injuries caused by the failure to stop at a bus’s signal. Fairly recently, a driver in Desoto County, Missouri drove past a stopped school bus and struck a child who consequently was airlifted to a nearby hospital. The driver faced the charge of Aggravated Assault: Injury to Child Boarding Bus, and was held in jail with a $100,000 bond (Brown, Taylor). Events like this are occurring nationally, and there is a response. New York Senator, Tim Kennedy, said himself that, “the law needs to deal with this
80,000 opportunities for a child to be struck by a moving multi-ton vehicle came and went in a single day of measurement. When applied to an entire school year of bus operation, more than fourteen million bus traffic violations occur. This is a staggering number and is one that is a result of a lack of awareness concerning how situations dealing with school buses should be handled, likely caused by a lack of educational campaigns used to increase knowledge of bus safety laws and practices. The use of awareness programs would more than likely lead to a decline in the number of these violations, thus providing an increase in the safety of bus-riding students; an increase that will always be welcomed unanimously by the general public. A program modeled after the seatbelt campaign, “Click it or Ticket”, is one such way to effectively increase national awareness of this …show more content…
One way to accomplish this is to hardline the enforcement of current laws against passing stopped buses with lights or stop signs. In Texas, the punishment for illegally passing school buses is a fine of up to $1,250. In 2013, 566 tickets were aptly given for this crime (DPS). Using the statistic previously mentioned regarding total violations in the United States, proportionally, each school year in Texas, there are roughly 54,000 violations. If this is a reasonably accurate number, then only about 1% of the total violations in Texas in 2013 resulted in a fine. This is an unacceptable rate of punishment for this illegal activity, and only our law enforcement can make the difference to further implement the current legal repercussions. There is also the pressing issue of deaths and injuries caused by the failure to stop at a bus’s signal. Fairly recently, a driver in Desoto County, Missouri drove past a stopped school bus and struck a child who consequently was airlifted to a nearby hospital. The driver faced the charge of Aggravated Assault: Injury to Child Boarding Bus, and was held in jail with a $100,000 bond (Brown, Taylor). Events like this are occurring nationally, and there is a response. New York Senator, Tim Kennedy, said himself that, “the law needs to deal with this