State troopers considering bus routes

Local school bus drivers may soon carry a bigger, tougher, kid on afternoon routes — a State Police trooper.

In an effort to thwart a surge in speeders and other traffic violators on school bus routes, State Police Troop L in Mandeville has developed a plan to place troopers on busses to monitor traffic. If a violator is spotted, the trooper radios to a nearby patrol car to make the stop.

“This could be in motion at the drop off a hat,” said Trooper Louis Calato, Troop L spokesman.

The measure was borne out of a rash of recent complaints from parents and school bus drivers themselves. Many claim drivers disregard driving laws in school zones and on bus routes, usually the same drivers every day.

“It’s gotten out of hand really,” Calato said.

Although logistics are hashed out and the plan is ready for launch,

State Police are not sure their crackdown will come to fruition.

As is, State Police and Sheriff’s Office deputies have teamed up to target violation hot spots such as Viola Street off Louisiana Highway 59 south of Interstate 12. The hope is to change driver behavior.

Violations are “inexcusable,” Calato said. “We don’t want that to happen. No, we can’t allow that to happen.”

For now, troopers compile a “hot sheet” filled with the most recent complaints and then flood those areas daily. It seems to be working. Complaints have dipped a little, Calato said, but if the downswing doesn’t continue, the school bus effort will be implemented.

The idea was modeled after State Police Troop G in Bossier City, which for five years has put troopers on school busses.

“It’s a huge deterrent,” said Doug Pierrelee, State Police Troop G spokesman. “It’s pretty high profile. People still stop me and say, ‘Hey, you still do that thing on the busses?’ People know about it.”

Although troopers don’t board busses often, it takes just once to send a message to nearby drivers, he said. A few dozen drivers ticketed seem to halt other would-be violators, he said.

Often, however, troopers aren’t even needed, he said.

A little know Louisiana law allows school bus drivers to call authorities with the color of the car and its license plate number to report a violator, Pierrelee said. A ticket will soon be issued to the owner, lessee or driver. In the case a driver can’t be identified, the owner is ticketed, Pierrelee said.

“We tell bus drivers all the time, ‘You have more power than you think,’” he said. “You don’t have to take that. It’s a very underused law.”