More than 70,000 Montana students ride the bus to school each day, and hazards are everywhere for the drivers behind the wheel.

Bus drivers and schools highlighted the importance of bus safety last week during National School Bus Safety Week.

Teaching children how to sit properly and evacuate a bus is important, but Sheila Wilson, a bus driver trainer and dispatcher for Harlow’s Bus Service in Kalispell, is increasingly concerned about the number of motorists making dangerous decisions when approaching a stopped school bus.

Wilson said it’s vital motorists obey traffic laws when a bus has its flashing red lights activated.

Bus drivers start notifying motorists when they are coming to a stop by turning on amber lights, which by law should be on 150 feet before a bus stops in the city, and 500 feet in other areas. A red light signals the bus is stopped, the doors are opening and children are present.

“If those red lights are on, there’s kids. Kids either loading or unloading,” Wilson said.

Harlow’s bus driver Ken Rumble has had motorists speed up to get around the bus when he turns his amber lights on.

“When they run the stop sign, they are taking a really big chance on hitting a student,” Rumble emphasized.

Wilson said it has become such a problem in some areas that Harlow’s seeks help from law enforcement.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Laramie Stefani said traffic violations involving school buses are an issue on U.S. 2 and U.S. 93.

“On a school day, I’ll follow a bus on the highway or sit behind a bus. But there’s one of me and many buses,” Stefani said.

Law enforcement doesn’t have to be present to issue a citation. Bus drivers or witnesses can provide police with brief descriptions and license plate numbers.

One of the most confusing laws for motorists involves stopping on four-lane roadways. In Montana, it is the law that motorists going either direction must stop for a school bus displaying red lights in a four-lane roadway unless the road is divided by a physical barrier such as a median, guardrail or drainage ditch.

“More often then not they don’t stop,” Rumble said.

The fine for passing a school bus while the red lights are on is $185; the maximum fine is $500.

Tailgating and cutting off buses is also an issue, Wilson said. She said buses can’t accelerate or stop “at the drop of a dime.”

“People tailgate buses all the time,” Rumble said. “Last year I had someone get so close behind the bus at a stop sign I couldn’t see his hood in my mirrors.”

Rumble has been driving school buses for three years and said it’s a job that he loves, but he also knows the focus it requires to keep his passengers safe. In addition to concentrating on traffic, traffic lights, speed limits, railroad crossings and pedestrians, drivers mush pay attention to the 25 to 40 students in the back of the bus.

It’s something he would like motorists to keep in mind.

“Our principle job is to get the kids from home to school and back home again safely,” Rumble said.

Despite impatient and reckless drivers, school buses are deemed the safest mode of transportation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from 2005 to 2014, there were 331,730 fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those crashes, 1,191 (0.4 percent) were classified as school-transportation-related.

To learn more about bus safety, visit www.safercar.gov/parents/OnTheMove/SchoolBuses.htm.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.