CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — Issues surrounding school bus safety have come to the forefront of a national conversation following a series of fatal incidents that have recently occurred.

It began on Tuesday, October 30, when three children were killed and another injured while crossing the street to their bus stop in rural Indiana. The following day a child was struck and killed in rural Mississippi as he crossed the road to board his school bus, while a second child was hit and injured while crossing the roadway to a bus stop in Florida.

On Thursday, November 1, a seven-year-old boy was found dead on the side of the road after being run over while waiting for his bus in central Pennsylvania. Another five children and two adults were injured after a car struck them at a school bus stop in Tampa, Florida, on the same day.

While these incidents are both tragic and shocking, unfortunately, they are becoming all too common.

During this year’s Operation Safe Stop — an annual school bus enforcement and education initiative that was held on October 24 — participating school districts and law enforcement agencies reported 147 violations of the law, an increase from the 120 reported last year. Convictions for breaking the School Bus Stopping Law also increased from 730 in 2016 to 747 in 2017.

These disturbing increases have both law enforcement and school officials looking for ways to increase school bus safety, as well as raise awareness of the laws for sharing the road with school buses.

Trooper Ronald Chewning, Community Services Officer for Pennsylvania State Police Troop C, told exploreClarion.com, “We have a ‘Follow the Bus’ type of program to try to crack down on people passing buses with their red light on because that has been occurring more frequently.”

“Everybody should know that mornings and afternoons are school bus times, and people need to put their phones down and pay attention to the roads because there are kids out there. We need to all make a conscious effort to slow down and pay attention around school buses.”

The state police aren’t the only law enforcement agencies watching out for student safety. Clarion Borough Police Chief William Peck IV noted that the borough police do spot checks at bus stops on a regular basis, varying what stops they check at what time of the day.

“Sometimes we assign officers to sit at or near bus stops to watch for violations,” explained Chief Peck.

“We do get complaints from the bus drivers themselves sometimes, and we follow up based on whatever information they can provide.”

“Drivers just need to remember, if the bus has its red lights flashing, you have to stop. There are severe penalties if you don’t.”

According to PennDOT, Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law requires motorists to stop at least 10 feet away from school buses that have their red lights flashing and stop arm extended. Motorists must stop when they are behind the bus, meeting the bus, or approaching an intersection where a bus is stopped. Motorists following or traveling alongside a school bus must also stop until the red lights have stopped flashing, the stop arm is withdrawn, and all children have reached safety. If physical barriers such as grassy medians, guide rails or concrete median barriers separate oncoming traffic from the bus, motorists in the opposing lanes may proceed without stopping.

The penalties for disobeying the law are a $250.00 fine, five points on your driving record, and a 60-day license suspension.

Local school districts are also focusing on ways they can help keep students safe.

“I think first and foremost, it’s about purposeful routing,” said Keystone School District Superintendent Shawn Algoe.

“Our transportation coordinator works extensively on making our routes and stops as safe as possible. Of course, in some circumstances, especially in rural areas, you aren’t going to get it perfect, but it still comes down to purposeful planning with a focus on student safety.”

According to Algoe, one of the recent features the school has invested in is stop-arm cameras. The district purchased the first camera two years ago, and after a successful year, they added several more last year. The camera unit mounts to the stop-arm of a bus. The camera videos a front, side, and rear view of any vehicle that passes the bus while the bus has the lights and stop arm deployed.

“We’ve been able to go after people for violations, and the footage has been invaluable for enforcement,” Algoe noted.

While the technology may be helping with enforcement, with a goal of keeping students safe, Algoe believes that awareness is one of their most important tools.

“Community awareness is also really important. We have a lot of people in our community who are willing to call the school or call the police when they see something happen, which is wonderful. I also think that another important thing is just having conversations with kids about being aware. You see so many people walking into poles, not paying attention, walking with headphones in, and so on. We need to raise some general awareness just make sure that everyone is reminded to stay safe.”

Distracted drivers appear to be the main concern of officials.

Union School District Superintendent Jean McCleary said that the problem with cameras is they’re not preventative.

“What you can do about distractions and distracted drivers, that’s going to make a difference,” said McCleary.

The wider conversation about school bus safety recently took a personal turn for one parent in the surrounding area. Falls Creek resident Kristy Baughman is spearheading an effort to get exterior cameras, like the ones currently being utilized in the Keystone School District, on buses in the DuBois Area School District after her daughter had a close call with a speeding car passing her bus at the bus stop.

“The bus was stopped with the lights on and the stop sign out and the kids were just starting to walk in front of the bus to cross when a car went flying through,” said Baughman.

Baughman noted that the stretch of 3rd Street/State Route 950 (commonly known as the Falls Creek Reynoldsville Road) where her daughter gets on and off of the bus has had problems with people speeding for years.

“It’s been getting really bad, though, and with all of the other incidents of kids getting hit and the close call we had, I’m afraid of what could happen.”

Baughman said she has spoken to the police about the issue, and they have sent troopers to the area. She added that although people slow down when they see the police vehicle, they speed through anytime the police aren’t visibly monitoring the area, and they can’t be there every day.

Baughman was told by a state police representative that without video footage, it can be hard to get a conviction. As a result, this spurred her to contact Randy Schmidt, Director of Transportation for DuBois Area School District.

When Baughman learned that money for exterior cameras “weren’t in the budget” right now, she created a petition through change.org.

“I look at some of the things they do spend money on and tend to think this is just way more important, and a lot of the other parents I’ve spoken to feel the same way, so I decided to start a petition.”

Baughman plans to present the petition to the school board at their December meeting.

“Some parents have even suggested that if the district won’t pay for it, we could raise the money through GoFundMe and pay for it that way. I haven’t spoken to anyone at the district about that yet, but I’m going to talk to the transportation supervisor about the estimated cost before the school board meeting.”

Baughman’s petition, which can be viewed here, currently has 441 signatures.

“All of the parents and community members I’ve spoken to about it are all for it.”

DuBois Area School District Superintendent Dr. Luke J. Lansberry says he has been in contact with their busing contractors since learning about Baughman’s concerns, asking about the possible problem with drivers in her neighborhood.

“We’re still assessing and gathering information at this point,” Lansberry said.

“I hadn’t had any reports to me about any issues like this in the area before. I was kind of surprised by it. It’s too early to say where we might go from here until we see if there’s a problem.”

According to Schmidt, the current camera system on the buses utilized by the school, which only monitor the interior of the buses, is at least five or six years old, and he has been researching what it would cost to outfit the buses with new systems that include an exterior camera.

Schmidt noted that cost isn’t the only concern with exterior cameras, though.

“When we got the system we have, there was some skepticism about how exterior cameras would do in our winter weather.”

While cameras can help with enforcement efforts, whether or not more stringent enforcement will lead to fewer accidents is another question.

Jill Harry, PennDOT District 1 Interim Press Secretary, noted that driver awareness continues to be a major issue, and one of the reasons PennDOT tries to spread the word through programs like Operation Safe Stop.

“I think sometimes people get in a hurry and they just don’t think about the fact that someone’s child is getting on or off that bus, and they should think of it, and think of it as if it were their own child.”