WATERBORO — Twice a day, school buses stop at Children’s Challenge Child Care Center on Route 5,  picking up little ones to take them to school or drop them off when the school day is done.

But regularly, says owner Cynthia Vermette, when the school buses stop and put their flashing lights on, the oncoming cars and trucks that are supposed to stop, don’t.

Children’s Challenge is on a congested portion of Route 5, not far from a traffic signal at the intersection with Townhouse Road and Old Alfred Road. There is a convenience store and gas station nearby, along with a mortgage company.

“The frequency of this happening is approximately two times per week,” said Vermette. “People are trying to beat the light (and) obviously our area has many distractions, but that is not a reason to not see the flashing lights of the school bus or even the frantic waving of a bus driver, honking of horn of said bus driver, or myself or my staff standing with a ‘stop sign’ almost 2 feet by 2 feet.”

York County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Tom Baran said vehicles not stopping for school buses there, and in other lcoations, is a problem.

The Sheriff’s ffice put up a sign on Friday, reminding  drivers to stop. Baran and others are hoping it, along with spot checks by contract deputies, will help make a difference.

“It is not only this area,” said Baran. “People just aren’t paying attention.”

“We have issues throughout the district with vehicles not stopping for school buses with their red lights flashing on,” said RSU 57 Transportation Director Matthew Kearns. “It is a state-wide and nation-wide problem.”

Kearns said the school district, which includes the towns of Alfred, Limerick, Lyman, Newfield, Shapleigh and Waterboro has most issues with drivers not stopping on the major roadways, like routes 4,  5, 11, 202 and 111 where the traffic is heavy and speed limits higher than on the more rural roadways.

He and Sheila Beckwith-Hibbard, who manages the Sanford office of Ledgemere Transportation, the company that provides bus services for Sanford School Department, agree that is is difficult for bus drivers to always jot down license plate numbers of those who drive by a school bus stopped with its flashing lights on.

“It is difficult a lot of times for drivers to get license plates as they are focused on the students and their safety, and what they are doing when getting on and off the bus,” said Kearns. “This makes enforcement difficult as well. Drivers do all they can to ensure their students’ safety each day. I think more public awareness is necessary, not just here but across the state and nation.”

“It is always an issue no matter where you are, from school yards to main roads and back roads,” said Beckwith-Hibbard. “Not one particular place is worse or better.”

Beckwith-Hibbard counted 22 reports of cars and trucks in Sanford driving past a stopped school bus, red lights flashing, in 2017.

“It happens all the time and the drivers are responsible for keeping the children safe,” she said. 

Beckwith-Hibbard said when she was a school bus driver, she taught the youngsters in the front half of the bus to get the first three letters and numbers of the license plate and the rest to get the last three — and it helped, she said.

Vermette said it seems like the number of cars and trucks who drive by school buses stopped to pick up or drop off children has increased by 75 percent this year. The child care center has had bus service for the 17 years it has been located on Route 5, she said.

“We have seen a more awareness of drivers since the sheriffs department put the sign up, but it is only a quick fix to a very unsafe situation,” she said.

Vermette said some school districts have cameras mounted on the mechanical stop sign that folds out from the  bus when the red lights are flashing. She said that, while costly, might help — and could well save a child’s life.

Vermette said a dozen children from three buses are picked up and dropped off at the child care center each day.

“I think it’s distracted driving,” said Vermette. “One day last week, it was an older person on a cell phone — the person didn’t even slow down, no brake lights, no nothing.” 

Maine statutes say the penalty for passing a stopped school bus is a minimum $250 fine on a first offense. A second offense taking place within three years of the first carries a mandatory 30-day license suspension.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.