State Transportation Director Speaks About School Bus Stop Safety

EDMOND, OK -- Parents in the Deer Creek School District complain about a school bus stop not being safe.

"The potential is out there for an accident for a child to get hurt, injured or killed," said parent, Randy Hampton.

The bus stop in question is just outside the Springer Run Neighborhood on Rockwell Ave. near Edmond. The bus loads and unloads kids in the turn lane of Rockwell where the speed limit is 55 mph.

Parents have captured numerous drivers illegally passing stopped school buses which is a stop-arm violation.

The district insists it meets all state and federal guidelines, so FOX 25 asked Trent Gibson the Director of Student Transportation for the Oklahoma Department of Education to explain the safety requirements.

"The most important thing you need to have at a bus stop is sight distance. When a car comes over a hill you don't want them to discover a bus right in front of them," said Gibson.

Parents' concerns brought Gibson out to the school bus to inspect it. "They seemed very concerned. I just wanted to be courteous," said Gibson.

"He came out to our stop and reviewed the stop with us," said Hampton.

In a letter Gibson sent to Hampton after their meeting he said "While I did observe a few inconsistencies in school bus stop procedure, I did find the stop overall complied with generally accepted principals for safe school bus stops."

One paragraph later, he wrote "the concerns are the speed limit on Rockwell and the high level of traffic, as well as several stop-arm violations."

In an on-camera interview with FOX 25, Gibson further explained the requirements he looks for when inspecting school bus stops. He listed sight distance, checking to make sure students do not have to cross traffic and proper lighting just to name a few.

"If you have a situation where a bus can move out of the main lane of traffic and drop off all of the students to where they move away from the bus, that's pretty safe," said Gibson.

He says you can never eliminate all safety risks. "Every single day in this country there are hundreds of thousands of violations," said Gibson.

Gibson's inspections do not determine a school district's decision on whether a bus stop is safe.

A spokesperson for Deer Creek School District says it has no plans to move the bus stop since it meets all state and federal safety guidelines.

State Transportation Director Speaks About School Bus Stop Safety

Posted: Thursday, November 1 2012, 10:23 PM CDT