School Bus Stops

Re “CHP Giving Drivers a School Bus Lesson: Stop or Be Stopped,” Jan. 23.

Your article threw me for a loop. I had just followed a school bus the morning before and, being very aware of the law change, was watching carefully to see if it was going to stop and put on its flashers to pick up children.

I have recently moved here from Washington state, where this law has been in effect for a very long time, so this is not a new procedure for me. What threw me was that the bus pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and then turned on its red flashers, rather than stopping in the traffic lane and blocking the traffic, as is done in other states.

We are taught as drivers to pay attention to what is directly ahead of us, not to give our first priority to what is sitting on the shoulder. It would certainly be safer for the children as well to have the bus out there protecting them physically from oncoming traffic.

The California Highway Patrol should think about the procedure they are enforcing and get the buses on the roadway where drivers have to respect their mass as well as their flashing lights.

JAN LANDBERG

Camarillo