Every weekday morning and afternoon during the school year, an important thing happens: School buses make stops to pick up and drop off students.
When the bus stops, a mechanical arm extends a red stop sign to alert motorists that they also need to stop, so children can safely enter or exit the bus.
It’s something that has happened routinely for decades and everyone learns this in driver’s education. But the seriousness of heeding that command and being aware of situations where children could be involved was reinforced by a recent tragedy.
Three siblings — twin brothers Mason and Xzavier Ingle, and 9-year-old sister Alivia Stahl — attempted to board a stopped school bus the morning of Oct. 30 north of Rochester in northern Indiana, but were killed when the driver of a pickup truck failed to stop.
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Alyssa Shepherd, 24, is charged with three counts of reckless homicide and one misdemeanor count of passing a school bus when its arm signal device was extended.
Shepherd has told authorities that she was unable to determine that a stopped school bus was ahead of her until it was too late, even though the flashing lights on the school bus had been activated and the stop arm was extended.
Missing those signals can and did have tragic consequences, a reminder that motorists need think about their surroundings, be conscious of what they might encounter and adjust their driving accordingly.
These are lessons we all need to remember when driving during mornings and afternoons. It’s unfortunate that a tragedy has to reinforce them.
