CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — The Parkway School District is addressing reckless driving, as motorists continue to drive around school buses during stops.
Startling video from the district shows a speeding car, hopping a curb, and veering back on the road. All while blatantly ignoring a bus stop sign.
The growing problem is putting kids across the state of Missouri at risk, according to Bryan Broome, Parkway Schools Transportation Department Operations Manager.
"Safety is our number one priority. We transport the world's most precious cargo, which is our students, so we just got to take care of and make sure that they're safe to and from school," he said.
Broome said that precious cargo is becoming more difficult to protect, though.
"It happens a lot, so at the worst part of last year, we were having two to three stop-arm violations a week," he said.
A Parkway School bus camera caught one dangerous driver first-hand, as it sped passed a stopped school bus. It was a wake-up call, for many school leaders, like Broome.
"It's just a huge safety concern for us, because when the red lights are on and the stop arms are out, it means that children could be crossing the street," he said.
Cue in the stop-arm extension by BusGates. According to BusGates Communications Director Chris McCloud, the new warning sign reaches out five feet and adds LED lightning, so it can be seen at any time.
"The key is to educate, educate the public, educate school districts, educate decision makers," he said.
McCloud said the problem isn't unique to Missouri.
"Nearly 45 million times this year school busses will be passed illegally. That's a lot of times. That's a lot of illegal passing, that's a lot of close calls, that's a lot of near misses," he said.
The technology has reduced drive-arounds significantly, according to McCloud.
"Talking to school districts that have put these on their school buses, they have seen reductions as much as 95%," he said.
Just six months in, according to Broome, Parkway is already seeing the impact.
"We went from getting daily reports from those buses for stop-arm violations to maybe one or two in a month, so it's helped out significantly," he said.
It's a sigh of relief for administrators, bus drivers and parents, as they continue to carry this community's most precious cargo.
"There can't be a bigger priority for any school district than the safety of its students," McCloud said.
Parkway Schools is one of two districts in Missouri currently using the stop-arm extensions on five buses. Broome said the district chose the buses with the most significant stop-arm violations.
According to McCloud, more than two dozen schools in Illinois use the stop-arm extensions.
Schools can learn more about BusGates here.