GOSHEN COUNTY – As summer quickly draws to an end in Goshen County, school doors will be opening throughout the district and buses will begin to roll down the streets, carrying some of the most precious cargo. 

According to the Wyoming Report on Traffic Crashes 2023, school bus-related crashes may directly or indirectly involve a school bus with or without passengers. 

“Over the last five years, 294 school bus-related crashes occurred with the majority (247 or 84%) directly involving the school bus. School buses were directly involved in five critical crashes, 34 serious crashes and 208 damage crashes,” the Wyoming Department of Transportation explained in the annual report. “School buses were indirectly involved in two critical crashes, 13 serious crashes and 32 damage crashes. In 2023, there were two school bus-related critical crashes (on Wyoming roads).” 

According to the report, 97.2% of the school bus occupants had no apparent injury as a result of the crash. 

“Only one school bus occupant had critical injuries (14.3% of critical injuries). Other critical injuries were attributed to passenger vehicle occupants (57.1% of critical injuries) and pedestrians (28.6% of critical injuries.) Critical injuries for school-aged persons include one fatality (pedestrian), and two serious injuries (one passenger in a school bus and one passenger in a passenger vehicle),” the report continued. 

The report also indicated more than half of the crashes occurred near public schools. 

“The majority of school bus-related traffic crashes (208, 70.7%) over the last five-year period (2019-2023) occurred within the vicinity of public school,” the report stated. “Around 40.9% occurred within 0.5 miles of an elementary school. 79.8% were within two miles of a middle school, and 82.7% were within two miles of a high school.”

Keeping the community safe, Torrington Police Chief Matt Johnson explained paying attention is the key component which also means stopping when the crossing arm is down.

“The biggest safety concern that we investigate is drivers ignoring the stop arm law,” Johnson explained. “This is so important for the safety of students that are getting on or off of a bus. It seems incredible, but we fairly regularly have drivers who become frustrated about the delay and drive around the bus while the stop arm is activated.”

Not stopping for bus crossing arms can lead to fines, according to Johnson. 

“The buses in our district have cameras that record while the stop arm is activated.  When a violation occurs, we work with the district to conduct an investigation and implement enforcement, when possible,” Johnson explained. “In Wyoming, drivers are compelled to stop, in either direction, when a school bus stop arm is activated and remain so until the stop arm is de-activated.”

Pedestrian traffic will also be picking up around Goshen County as students walk to school in some locations and according to Johnson, distracted driving could result in an accident.

“The other safety concern that is always worth mentioning, is distracted driving. This is dangerous any time of the year, but as we see students on the roadway, it becomes even more so,” Johnson explained. “It is critical for drivers to invest all of their attention into the safe operation of their motor vehicle and not allow technology, or other distractions, to interfere.”

According to Johnson, the stop arm law applies any time the red lights on the school bus are flashing.

“Just for the sake of clarification, the red lights on the bus are part of the ‘stop arm law.’ The red lights on the bus will flash when the stop arm is activated,” Johnson explained. “If only the red lights are activated, the driver is still required to stop.”