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Three counties to test school bus arm extensions

Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Tom Hindman A pilot program in Cabell, Greenbrier and Kanawha counties will add 6-foot-long extensions to existing bus stop signs. The signs will fold out into the other lane of traffic as a deterrent to drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.
Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Tom Hindman
A pilot program in Cabell, Greenbrier and Kanawha counties will add 6-foot-long extensions to existing bus stop signs. The signs will fold out into the other lane of traffic as a deterrent to drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Following alarming reports of the number of West Virginia drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses, three districts are testing out adding to their existing bus stop signs 6-foot-long extensions that fold out into adjacent lanes of traffic.

Lewisville, North Carolina-based Bus Safety Solutions will provide 10 free extensions each to Kanawha County, which reported that drivers illegally passed stopped school buses 90 times on a single day in April; Cabell County, which reported 35 illegal passes on a single day tested; and Greenbrier County, which reported eight illegal passes on one day.

Mike Pickens, executive director of the state Office of Schools Facilities and Transportation, said districts chose one day out of a set time frame in the spring to count the number of illegal passes and report the data to the West Virginia Department of Education. Cabell recorded the second-highest number of illegal passes in the state, just ahead of Putnam County, which reported 29, and Berkeley County, which noted 26. Not all districts reported data. Pickens said the state chose Greenbrier — a large and sparsely populated county — for the pilot program because of its geographic diversity.

Jerry Young, crew leader of electronic technicians for the Kanawha district’s transportation department, said the metal extensions have Teflon breakaway bolts that, in the case of a driver striking one, cause them to easily snap off when hit with at least 80 pounds of pressure.

“They’ll learn not to do it again…

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