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School bells ring in the return of bus traffic

By STEVE HEGARTY
Published August 8, 2005

Your commute most likely will take longer today. Tomorrow too. And for the foreseeable future.

Why?

Because now you have to share the road with school buses.

Yes, today is the first day of the school year in Pasco County. If you don't have school-age kids, you might not have seen it coming, but here it is early August and it's time for school.

If you do have school-age kids and didn't see it coming, put down your newspaper. Take a few deep breaths. You're going to have a really bad day.

Pasco Schools transportation director Mike Park, whose job it is to transport 33,000 kids without incident every day and to stay out of the newspaper, passed on a few well-worn safety tips for drivers.

--Give yourself extra time.

You know you'll get stuck behind a school bus. If you're late, there is greater temptation to do something stupid and/or illegal.

--Look out for kids. Some of them will be dazed and sleepy (remember, it's the first day of school). Some will be running to catch a bus. Some will be horsing around. None of them will be looking out for cars.

Kids will be waiting for buses as early as 6 a.m. when it is still quite dark. Given the odd schedules for some schools, kids could be waiting for buses or walking home from a bus stop at all hours.

--If your child rides a school bus, consider sticking around the bus stop for a few minutes before you head to work. Just to make sure things are safe. Your son or daughter will prefer that you keep a respectful distance, but you can still keep an eye on things.

--Do not pass a stopped school bus if it has the stop light arm extended. The only way you can do this legally is if you are on the other side of the road and it is a divided road with a median separating you from the school bus.

It will cost you at least $155 if you're caught passing a stopped school bus, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Larry Coggins tells us. Add to that a mandatory court appearance if you are caught passing on the side where kids get on and off the bus. Even if you don't get caught it is still incredibly inconsiderate, decidedly dangerous and thoroughly uncool.

Wesley Chapel's place

Wesley Chapel wins another round in the battle to define itself and its boundaries.

The Florida Department of Transportation has agreed to change the Interstate 75 exit sign at State Road 54. The sign has said "Wesley Chapel 2 miles" with an arrow pointing to the east. Some Wesley Chapel leaders insist that Wesley Chapel is not east of that intersection at all but encompasses that entire area.

DOT has agreed to change the exit sign to say simply: Wesley Chapel.

Red light, blue light

A quick question: When a Florida Highway Patrol trooper pulls you over, what color are the flashing lights?

A) Red. B) Blue. C) White.

The answer is D) all of the above.

(Okay, it was a trick question. So sue us.)

Troopers are updating their cars to include red light bars. That will go along with the blue light bars now on the cars.

Why the change? They want to make sure you see them.

FHP Trooper Larry Coggins tells us that a study showed that the human eye sees red better in the daylight, and blue better at night. (Finally a study that tells us something useful!)

What all that means is that motorists sometimes have trouble seeing the lights flashing behind them. That makes it tougher to get a motorist to pull over, which is dangerous. And it makes it more difficult for other motorists to see the trooper and the motorist once they pull over on the side of the road, which is dangerous.

"It's a safety issue," Coggins said. He wanted to get the word out so that motorists weren't confused and didn't think the flashing red lights were impostors with an unhealthy fascination for flashing lights.

--Want to vent about traffic problems? Drivers' Side welcomes commuters' rants, comments and suggestions. Send e-mail to hegarty@sptimes.com or leave a phone message at 813 909-4610.

[Last modified August 8, 2005, 02:45:22]