PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — On Tuesday morning, a driver rear-ended a school bus while on its route in Port St Lucie. This is the fourth crash, across our area, in the first two weeks of school.
“It’s scary,” said Arlene Poitier, who takes care of her nephew. “That is one crash, two crashes, 3 crashes, even 4 crashes too much.”
Watching her nephew with special needs, Poitier said she has no other choice but to send him on the bus.
“Working a full-time job, I have no other option but to put him on the bus,” said Poitier. “He has autism, so every time I have to leave him and let him go on that bus, it’s scary for me.”
On the first day of school in Palm Beach County, a teen rear-ended a bus in Lake Worth Beach. A second teen was taken to the hospital.
One day later, a driver slammed into the back of a school bus in Wellington.
On Monday, two cars collided and struck a school bus that was stopped with the stop arm out.
Thankfully, students have not been hurt in any of the crashes.
“It’s unusual to see four school bus crashes particularly in such a short period of time,” said Dr. Eric Dumbaugh, associate director, Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety. “Typically, people have a greater sensitivity to school buses and children in general.”
Dr. Dumbaugh said we are seeing more aggressive drivers since the pandemic with crash rates at an all-time high.
“Our roads have become a lot less safe in the last year or two and it's principally because people are exercising less care when they drive,” said Dumbaugh.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most fatal school bus crashes involving children happen when a bus is stopped or letting children on or off.
Still, bus riders are 70 times more likely to arrive at school safely than car riders.
“It’s the frequent stopping of buses if you have a following vehicle not paying attention or being a bit aggressive, both of which are common on south Florida roads, these are the types of crashes you would expect to see occur,” said Dumbaugh.
Poitier calling this a reminder for drivers.
“We as other drivers have to be more careful,” said Poitier. “We have to take more precautions, not being on our cell phone or doing something that is going to distract us from seeing other cars or even the buses on the road.”
According to the School District of Palm Beach County, since 2019, there have been more than 800 incidents involving school buses.
