School bus passing violations in Decorah are down from previous years

In a joint email statement, Decorah Superintendent Mark Lane and Director of Transportation Jim Samuelson said the district has not had any bus stop sign violations turned in through the first five weeks of the school year. This number is lower than reported violations in previous years.

In a February 2020 interview with decorahnews.com, Samuelson said at times the district has had 8-12 illegal passes of a stopped school bus in just one week. There's no exact reason why there's been such a decline of violations this year, but it is guessed that the hybrid model of learning might be a contributing factor as it reduced traffic during regular school dismissal and arrival time.

Some frequent reasons given for illegally passing a stopped school bus are distracted driving and running late. Lane explained, "When people accidentally violate a bus safety law, it is typically due to a distraction such as paying attention to a phone rather than the road.  When people intentionally violate a law it is generally because they are in a hurry, frustrated, and impatient, and they put their needs ahead of safety."

More information about Iowa school bus safety can be found here.

In addition to keeping students safe from passing violations, bus drivers are busy this year adjusting and adapting to new procedures for dealing with COVID-19. Buses are sanitized twice a day, and, according to Lane, drivers are doing a good job of keeping bus interiors clean.  He continued, "The new adjustments have gone well.  We are incredibly grateful to our drivers for all they do.  Not only do we have our daily routes, but we also typically have three to seven activities buses running each day.  Our drivers are a dedicated group of people who care deeply for our students."