Several years ago there was concern following a spate of accidents involving children alighting from school buses. The state government rushed through new laws requiring virtually all buses to install flashing amber lights and signage requiring traffic to slow to forty kilometres an hour when buses were setting down or picking up children.
For weeks the start and end of school saw a sea of flashing lights. Police were vigilant and drivers ignoring the speed restrictions presented with heavy fines and the loss of demerit points - but there were problems !
Some bus drivers failed to cancel those flashing lights when under way, and as a result traffic was technically restricted to 40 kph and prevented from overtaking these buses.
Today - it is a different story. It is a rare sight to see a school bus or an excursion bus carrying children using this warning system. It seems that there is a plethora of laws to convict and fine motorists who fail to obey those flashing lights - but no laws to insist that bus drivers use them.
Lethargy has set in. Bus drivers simply can not be bothered going to the trouble of hitting a switch when stopping - and remembering to hit it again when under way.
This law - which cost bus owners thousands to have the system installed - only seems to come to life whenever there is an accident and the story of an injured child hits the media. Unfortunately, this flurry of activity slowly grinds to a halt with the passage of time. What does it take to have a good idea become part of the national psyche ?
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