Conway Police Department reported 15 incidents of drivers illegally passing a school bus at a complete stop the week of Aug. 25.
Interns Carter Crane and Alexis Cantu presented data on bus violations from 2021 and 2022 at the Conway city attorney’s office Aug. 28 to spread awareness.
Arkansas Code 27-51-1004 says that drivers must stop at least 30 feet away from a stopped school bus with its flashing red lights on all roads, streets and highways in all directions.
According to data collected by Crane and Cantu through police and bus reports, 28 out of 38 people charged in 2021 pled guilty, and 47 out of 55 people charged in 2022 pled guilty.
In both years, the highest rate of violations was during the afternoon, and the hotspots were South Donaghey Ave., College Ave., Meadowlake Road and Oak Street.
Bus drivers also reported more incidents than police officers due to Conway passing an ordinance March 23, 2021, that partnered with Conway Public School District to equip each bus with cameras on the front, rear and inside.
Cantu, a junior majoring in political science and minoring in Spanish and legal studies, said Deputy City Attorney Shelby Brown assigned her and Hendrix student Crane to research the increase in bus violations by obtaining data from the District Court.
Crane also redesigned informational pamphlets made initially by City Attorney Charles Finkenbinder.
“You’re not going to just randomly hit somebody, just to hit them,” Cantu said. “I don’t think somebody goes and drives on the road and is like, ‘You know what? I feel like hitting something.’ It’s just them not paying attention and then realizing that there’s actually consequences when you’re not focused.”
“It’s just ignorance, to be honest,” she said. “As people, we’re so busy throughout the day that we just dissociate.”
Darrick Simmons, an investigator for the Conway city attorney’s office, specializes in school bus violations.
He said, “What helps is if we have bus drivers that are willing to do just a little bit of legwork to make sure that I get the proper documentation for the violation.”
Bus drivers fill out a violation report that includes details about the incident, such as the date, time, location, bus number and name, as well as a description of the suspect and their vehicle.
“Anytime a violation happens, and that camera catches it, I get an opportunity to go look at the footage,” Simmons said. “What I’m looking for is, was the bus completely stopped? How far away were they from coming towards the bus? What road were they on? The manner of driving. Was it in a reckless manner? If I could see the driver of the vehicle, I can pinpoint down who was in the driver’s seat just by running a tag.”
Offenders are then mailed a warning letter or issued a summon.
Simmons said that to prevent violations and repeat offenses, Conway Corp could create a commercial to spread awareness, or the Arkansas permit test could include a small video on school bus laws.
He said, “If you’re concerned about it, as a parent, and you saw that maybe, if you’re waiting at a bus stop on your child and their vehicles that just do not want to stop, I would say, call the school, talk to the superintendents, get active as much as you possibly can figure out who you need to talk to alleviate this problem. Call the police departments. Request extra patrol in that area at a certain time just due to that reason alone.
“Because here’s the thing, we are sending our children to school with the expectation that they’re going to come home, and we have to do what we have to to make sure that every child gets home, not just our own,” he said.
“Imagining sending your child to school and your child don’t come home due to someone just not respecting the bus when they’re stopping,” Simmons said. “That’s something that I don’t want to ever have to feel. I don’t want that feeling, so I don’t want nobody else to have that feeling about losing their child.”