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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
State handles school
bus complaintsQuestion: Who do I contact about school bus drivers? I see four Roberts school buses driving very aggressively at around 6:30 every morning. One of their tactics is to go to the front of the line before cutting in, and then the first one will slow down and let all three of the other buses cut in front. One morning, they were speeding on the shoulder between the Waipio onramp and the Waianae exit on the H-2. It is bad enough that other drivers use the shoulder when traffic gets backed up in this area, but there is no excuse for a bus driver to be putting schoolchildren and other motorists in danger. I have called the company several times about the unsafe driving, but nothing has seemed to change.
Answer: Call the state Department of Transportation's student transportation section regarding any concerns about school buses. The number is 586-0170.
"Even if the bus is transporting private school students, we will pass the concern on to the vendor," said Education Department spokesman Greg Knudsen. "When it is a public school matter, we work with the contractor to ensure a response to the concern."
In this case, it appeared the buses you cited were transporting private school students, so he deferred to Roberts Hawaii for a response.
Roberts officials pointed out that the shoulder lane you refer to is "a legal lane" for travel in the morning.
The practice of slowing down to allow another bus into the lane is common, especially for buses or other large vehicles that have difficulty getting into lanes when traffic is heavy, said Roberts Hawaii spokeswoman Sam Shenkus.
"Not only do our drivers do this for our company, but other school buses or even OTS (Oahu Transit Services) buses do this to help out other commercial operators. This is a form of road courtesy," she said.
The feeling is that most motorists would prefer having five buses together rather than spaced, say several hundred feet apart, over the course of a mile.
Regarding speeding, Shenkus said the company has already addressed that matter "with the specific drivers in that area in the morning. We don't allow or condone our units speeding."
However, in its drivers' defense, Roberts believes that at that time of the morning, in rush-hour traffic, with speeding being more than 50 mph, speeding would be virtually impossible because "traffic is barely moving at 20-30 mph in a 50 mph speed zone," Shenkus said.
"It may seem like the buses are speeding when traffic is slow-moving in your lane and the lane next to you is open and a bus passes next to you ... when it actually isn't," she said.
If anyone has a concern regarding a Roberts bus, Shenkus said to call 523-7750.
Mahalo
To all of those who participated in and contributed to the Kaneohe Christmas Parade, particularly those who marched this year. It was the biggest and best parade ever with over 3,000 in the parade and who knows how many watching. A great time was had by all. -- Kaneohe Christmas Parade Committee
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