New Feature Added On Union County School Buses To Ensure Safety

MONROE, N.C. — Several Union County Public School buses are getting a makeover just in time for the upcoming school year. Officials say around 30 buses will have extended stop arms added to them to help keep students, bus drivers, and motorists safe.

The new safety feature was put onto select buses in May, ahead of summer learning camp, according to a news release.

Officials say traditional school bus stop arms extend to about 21 inches from the bus (a little less than two feet), and the new extended stop arms reach 79 inches from the bus (about six and a half feet) into the lane of oncoming traffic.

The new feature also has an additional stop sign and blinking lights.

“The extended stop arms do two things, one is it provides an enhanced visual notification for approaching motorists that a passenger stop is being made,” says Scott Denton, UCPS transportation director. “It also requires our drivers to focus on the passenger stop procedure and part of that procedure requires them to check traffic in both directions before deploying their stop arm.”

Union County Public Schools were able to bring this new safety feature to the county thanks to state funding.

Denton says as time goes on, more buses may have this safety feature added.

“This device will help ensure that any students that have to cross the roadway will be better protected from motorists. That’s our primary goal, that’s why we are in this business to provide safe transportation,” says Denton.

UCPS plans to run approximately 230 buses for the 2021-22 school year, according to a news release.

“I’m hoping with this new safety feature will make an impact on people running the stops arms,” says Dottie Nash, a UCPS bus driver who has the device on her bus. “Sometimes I think that people just don’t pay attention and that is dangerous for the students that you’re trying to get across the road. I’m hoping that this will improve the safety of all of our students.”