GALLATIN COUNTY — Foggy mornings, 8:00 a.m. drop-offs, and Labor Day in the books. It’s officially back to school in Montana, and that makes road safety a top priority.
“It takes one bad incident for someone to change someone’s life,” said Morgan Tiberi, a bus driver with First Student in Bozeman. Her and two other bus drivers, Melissa Smith and Wendy Coey, say that school bus safety is a significant issue. All three drivers recalled their bus getting hit or being close to getting hit at some point in their careers. Montana Highway Patrol confirmed to MTN that this is a statewide problem.
“Between 2023 and 2024, I believe we issued 144 citations,” said Sgt. John Metcalfe.
With school starting back up, MTN asked the First Student bus drivers for a safety demonstration on what to do when a bus is coming to a stop.
“100 feet before our stop, we’re going to activate our yellow [lights]. And when we activate our yellow [lights], drivers should know we’re getting ready to make a stop to look for or pick up children. So, once you see those, you should be planning to stop for us,” said Smith.
“Once we’ve stopped and activated our red [lights] to pick up students, this [stop] sign is going to come out. Once it starts, we can’t stop it and if you continue to try and pass us coming toward us, you’re most likely going to hit that,” Smith added.
“Once you see the [stop] sign start to retract, you’re safe to go,” she said.
Buses are not the only safety concern this school year. Speed is another significant issue.
“Many times, we’ve almost been hit,” said Rene Olden and Annette Kanning, who are both crossing guards at Saddle Peak Elementary School in Belgrade.
WATCH: Bus drivers give a safety demonstration on how to drive with school buses on the road
Phones are another issue.
“For young drivers, it’s putting the phone down. It’s being a cautious driver and not on TikTok and not on Snapchat,” said Sgt. Metcalfe.
For bus drivers, it’s all about people letting them do their job, which is to keep kids safe.
“We’re responsible for their lives,” said Smith.
