School Bus Safety I-Team

GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - There's a law stating that drivers are supposed to stop for school buses if their red stop lights are flashing, but a woman in Greenfield says she sees people breaking that law on a daily basis. Susan Cadwell lives on a busy street where cars move very fast. She claims she's spotted a number of cars ignoring the red flashing lights on her daughter's school bus.

Cadwell told 22News it was creating an unsafe situation for her daughter and several other people. "Not only is it putting my daughter in jeopardy, but it's putting the other children on the bus in jeopardy, plus the monitor and the driver, " she said.

She claims the problem started when her daughter, who's in a wheelchair, started riding in a white school bus. Cadwell told 22News she soon started documenting the problem with her video camera, and wasn't suprised at what her camera captured. "In the 37 days that I've actually done videos, I got 61 traffic violations passing the bus," she said.

Cadwell called the school and got some signs put up near her house, but it wasn't enough. She called police, and the day they came by, they found no clear violations.

That's when Cadwell asked the 22News I-Team to investigate. We set up multiple cameras one afternoon and sure enough, the school bus stopped, its lights flashing, but one driver didn't even appear to slow down at all.

We took our findings to police, but the Greenfield police detectives explained they didn't have the resources to keep an officer at the bus stop permanently. We told them that we 'd documented cars passing the bus, and asked them if they could do something about this potential hazard.

After that, something was done pretty quickly. That evening we got word from Cadwell that the police ordered the white buses to be fitted with new signage including a stop sign and brighter lights.  We were there when the newly equipped bus dropped off Cadwell's daughter.

For Cadwell, it was a defining moment. "I was holding my breath thinking are they going to stop, are they going to stop, and then they did and I thought, wow, this is great," Cadwell said. Sure enough, all cars stopped, a positive result that Cadwell says has continued.

In addition to the new signage and lights, the buses will also be getting another safety feature. Greenfield Sgt. Dan McCarthy told 22News that moving forward, the DPW will be putting extendable arms on the side of the bus vans like regular school buses, to further notify drivers that they need to stop.

We asked the state what they're doing to prevent illegal bus passing, and Michael Verseckes from the MA Department of Transportation said state leaders are cracking down on drivers who ignore laws requiring that they stop for buses.

Verseckes told 22News that last month, RMV inspectors and local police handed out 110 citations in 160 cities and towns during a statewide undercover operation targeting drivers who pass school buses that are stopped to pick up or drop off students.

If there's anything you'd like the 22News I-team to investigate, send an e-mail to iteam@wwlp.com.