With troopers stretched thin, are more motorists ignoring flashing school bus lights?

WASILLA — Like every other state in the country, Alaska requires drivers to stop when a school bus is displaying red flashers. However, at least one Mat-Su resident says he's seen numerous occasions where drivers are disregarding the law and placing children at risk.

Scott Lee, a resident in the Trunk-Palmer Fishhook roads area said in one instance, it involved his seven-year old daughter, who is a second grader at Pioneer Peak Elementary School.

"I've witnessed it three times in the past six weeks and twice in the last two weeks," said Lee, who lives off Tern Drive.

Lee said the incidents occurred when students are boarding the bus on their way to school.

"Two weeks ago, my wife had to grab our daughter and pull her back. A red van almost hit her...they must have been doing 25-30 miles per hour and never even slowed down. I chased the vehicle down and gotten a description, make and model, and plate number."

Alaska's school bus stop law stipulates drivers approaching a stopped school bus with red flashers engaged from any direction must stop not less than 30 feet from the bus. Drivers may not proceed until the school bus proceeds and the flashing lights are no longer illuminated. Further, when coming upon a stopped school bus without red flashers engaged, drivers must yield right-of-way to anyone walking. Alaska law states drivers coming upon a school bus with yellow or amber flashers engaged must slow down and stop when the bus stops and engages red flashers and stop sign. Vehicles must remain stopped until the stop sign is retracted and flashers turned off. At that point, drivers are allowed to proceed with caution.

The statutes are for roads with two-way traffic. Drivers are not required to stop on roads such as divided highways, when the bus is stopped in the opposing direction and pedestrians are prohibited to cross the highway. A driver violating the law is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor, in addition to other penalties as provided by law. There is also a mandatory six-point assessment on the driver's license.

Given the Mat-Su Borough's size and sparse police coverage, Alaska State Troopers' (AST) public information officer supervisor Tim DeSpain stated if the department receives a violation complaint, and a trooper is in the area, they will look for and attempt to stop the vehicle.

"If stopped, we interview and then cite if proven," DeSpain said in an email. “If we observe, we engage and cite. If we have a solid description, plate, et cetera, we will contact if we are able to find the vehicle and investigate. If facts mesh and the caller is willing to testify, we can cite, but the caller must show up in court as a witness to testify to facts, as we did not see."

DeSpain said in those cases, troopers are screening to determine whether the law was violated, based on reported facts. He said others factor are time and manpower.

"Most reports are (around) five hours old with little information so no action is taken. We simply don't have the time to do so," DeSpain said.

Lee said he also contacted First Student Bus Company, which contracts with the Mat-Su Borough School District to provide the service. Lee said he was told unless it is one driver and/or vehicle repeatedly ignoring the red flashers, there is little they can do. Lee said he was told by the bus company that unless it is a case of repeated and multiple violations by the same vehicle, even police can do little about it.

Lee said he told AST he would use a GoPro camera to catch violations. Lee said he was told that unless there was undisputable proof that identified the driver, any filed case would be thrown out in court. Lee said he did receive a return call from a trooper.

"He offered to come over and show up at the bus stop as long as he didn't have something else to do," Lee said. "He didn't show up but I'm guessing that's because they are so short-staffed."

Lee said he's been researching the problem and has discovered a possible deterrent.

"Down in the Lower 48, busses are installing dash cameras and getting prosecution," Lee said. "I would like to see the district equip busses, at least those where there is a problem, with cameras. I don't want to see any child, not just my child."

Lee said he has not approached the school district about the idea.

Contact reporter Chris Ford at 352-2270 or

chris.ford@frontiersman.com