At least six times each month, a driver illegally passes a Bigfork school bus while it’s stopped during student pick up or drop off.

In fact, just last month, a vehicle came so close that it actually clipped the bus’ stop sign, which in addition to flashing red lights, is used to alert oncoming drivers that a bus stop is in progress.

And last year, a driver on Route 18 had to close the doors to keep children from disembarking after he spotted a car that showed no signs of slowing down.

Montana law requires drivers to come to a halt no less than 30 feet away from a school bus with its red, flashing lights on, and to only proceed once children have reached the side of the road and the school bus has turned off said lights. The Bigfork School District also designs bus routes to be “as friendly as possible to traffic” where stops are placed in strategic locations to minimize disruptions to other drivers.

But according to Bigfork Schools staff members, an increasing number of drivers have violated state law — and put the safety of students in jeopardy.

“I don’t understand it,” said superintendent Matt Jensen. “I don’t know when people forgot to stop behind a school bus or became too impatient.”

Bigfork Schools’ transportation director and former bus driver Rob Tracy said he began noticing an uptick in what he calls “red-runners” about a year-and-a-half ago.

“They have done this knowingly as well as unknowingly, which leads me to believe they’re not paying attention, they’re on cellphones or they’re just not cognizant,” Tracy said, of drivers who pass stopped school buses.

Just last month, the worst-case scenario became a reality. A driver struck 6-year-old Jordana Hubble after she had exited a bus northwest of Whitefish. She sustained a serious brain injury and remains in an induced coma. At the time of the incident, the bus’ stop sign was deployed and the red flashing lights were on.

“I’m concerned because people aren’t paying attention to what they’re doing on the roadways these days,” Tracy said.

To assess the extent of the problem, he asked the school bus drivers to keep track of red-running incidents. On average, Tracy receives six to nine reports of illegal passing each month.

“And not every driver reports every incident,” he noted.

Bigfork schools operate a fleet of eight buses that transport approximately 500 students to and from school five days a week. To make their journey safer, the school initially tried mounting a camera on the buses in hopes of identifying red-runners. The footage allowed them to determine the make and model of a vehicle in violation, but the cameras couldn’t capture the license plate clearly.

Thankfully, bus monitor Kathy Standley had another idea.

“Being a monitor, witnessing all these drivers …. she took the bull by the horns and did some research and said, ‘This is the stop arm you should be looking at,’” Tracy recalled.

The stop arm in question is a $1,500 model from Bus Safety Inc. that measures over six feet in length and has, not one, but two stop signs along with alternating red flashing lights. By comparison, the original stop arm is about two feet long with a single stop sign.

“It’s a very clear signal to traffic in both lanes,” Jensen said.

To test the effectiveness of the larger arm, Tracy installed one last fall on the bus with the most reports of red-running incidents, Route 14. The bus travels along Montana Highway 35 to Woods Bay and down Holt Drive toward Hanging Rock Drive.

“Since last year, he’s had one incident,” Tracy said.

“We’re really encouraged by what we saw after piloting it. It just makes sense,” Jensen added. “From my perspective, it’s an easy investment.”

Based on the success of the pilot program, the school has decided to install the larger stop sign arms on their entire fleet of eight buses, plus two spares. Tracy is hoping to have the remaining arms installed by the end of the school’s holiday break. Although the initial testing has indicated a significant decrease in red-runners, it hasn’t proven to be 100 percent effective.

This is where the school could use the community’s help.

“If you see something as a driver, say something,” Tracy said. “Report somebody … These people are in the wide open that are doing this and that would help us tremendously.”

Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at 758-4433 or editor@bigforkeagle.com.