AMHERST, Mass. (WGGB) — A young child is recovering after being hit by a car that was passing a school bus and now Amherst school administrators are offering counseling to students.
Officials say that around 2:30 p.m. Friday, a child was crossing in front of a stopped school bus on South East Street, near the Fort River School, when a car allegedly tried to pass the bus and hit the child.
The bus had its stop sign extended and its lights flashing.
That elementary school-aged child suffered minor injuries.
No word if any charges have been filed.
In a statement on the Amherst Regional Public School website, school authorities say,”Since Middle and High School students on the bus may have witnessed this accident and may have questions or concerns, counselors will be available tomorrow morning, Saturday, December 8, from 9:00-11:00 a.m. at the middle school. This is expectedly an upsetting incident and evokes strong feelings. Please feel free to come in with your child tomorrow morning for us to help support all of you. Counselors are also always available during school hours. Please contact your child’s school office if you want to connect with a counselor on Monday.”
Back in October, local police, the Mass. Department of Transportation, and school bus companies participated in “Operation Yellow Blitz” in 70 cities and towns across the state.
The goal of the operation was “to draw attention to the problem of vehicles illegally passing school buses that were picking-up and discharging school pupils,” according to a press release from MassDOT.
Among the western Mass. towns involved in the program were Amherst, Gill, Greenfield, and Westfield.
In the one day blitz, 32 motorists were found illegally passing buses. No citations were issued in the western Mass. communities.
Violators can be issued a $250 fine for their first offense.
No excuse
I bet it was an illegal alien !
Glad he/she is ok! i see this ALL the time, its a real big problem!
What is so important to get to in a hurry to pass the flashing light of a school bus.
Just like how cars do not obey the “keep back 100 feet” sign on busses or fire trucks.
I was behind a yellow school bus yesterday and was surprised it did NOT have any sign stating to keep back 100 ft.
ok qan dpeople thought the judge who made the lady stand on am corner was nuts right they should make her suffer something more embarrasing
So they wasted resources to find that cars pass school buses but didn’t issue tickets? Nice.
I walk my kids across the street every morning because we average 10-15 people running the flashing red lights on the bus. One guy who got a ticket stopped at my house to even tell me off… he left apologizing to me with his tail between his legs.
I see it happen in Northampton all the time… drivers blowing right by school buses with their lights flashing. I know it can be irritating to have to stop every single time the bus needs to stop, which can be an obnoxiously large # of times on one strip of road, but they do so for a reason. This story is one of them.
You’re right, it is irritating. What would be a nice gesture (one I’ve never seen), would be when a bus driver sees a long line of cars behind him/her, if they pulled over to the side of the road to let that long line of cars get past the bus.
take the operator of the cars license away for a year
The police and the RMV park a car down the street to watch because it’s so bad. Our bus driver can get plate numbers in his review mirror.
Domesti Katie:
“Back in October, local police, the Mass. Department of Transportation, and school bus companies participated in “Operation Yellow Blitz” in 70 cities and towns across the state….Among the western Mass. towns involved in the program were Amherst, Gill, Greenfield, and Westfield.
In the one day blitz, 32 motorists were found illegally passing buses. No citations were issued in the western Mass. communities.”
It doesn’t say “No citations were issued”. What it says is that they did this “blitz” in 70 towns, only four of which were in western MA. In the 70 towns, a total of 32 motorists were caught passing busses. Perhaps none of those 32 motorists were in the four western MA towns. Perhaps you should read for comprehension and not skim to complain.
This happens all the time and it goes both ways, I’ve seen crossing guards just throw themselves at green lights to cross kids, like what in the world are you thinking?? No one respects the law anymore
Ok so i will say whats most important i am glad the child is ok
Cars pass stopped school buses more that reported.
I HAVE seen buses pull over to let cars pass in easthampton n northampton and whomever the bus driver is who drives my son from easthsmpton to smith voke daily is awesome. He will stop bus if he sees us driving late to catch bus and pick up my son. I have utmost respect for bus drivers i know. They cant keep pulling over there are laws on amount of time kids can be on bus. So they HAVE to stay on SCHEDULE hance the cant add more stops