SOUTH FORK, PA. Debate centers on letting cops pass school buses

Bus operators say the state law that allows police to pass should be changed.
SOUTH FORK, Pa. (AP) -- The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it will fix a mistake in its School Bus Driver Training Manual that has been the subject of recent stories in the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown.
The newspaper has been reporting on a complaint that drivers from Hillegas Bus Co. filed with Adams Township police against a South Fork officer, Robert Mackey, who passed two stopped school buses on Feb. 17. Mackey was traveling to a serious domestic violence call at the time, police said.
What manual says
The owner of the bus company, relying on PennDOT's school bus manual, said Mackey was clearly wrong. The manual says no motorist can pass a stopped school bus that has turned on its red flashing lights -- not even a police officer on an emergency call.
But PennDOT officials said the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code holds sway. The code says emergency vehicles can pass stopped school buses -- with caution.
"This situation did alert us that the school bus driver manual does need changed," said PennDOT spokeswoman Joan Nissley. "The vehicle code is the law."
The change will be visible in an Internet version of the school bus manual in about a week. Making the change in the printed edition of the book will take longer, Nissley said.
But Hillegas and other school bus operators say the law should be changed.
"They better do something," Hillegas said. "No one should be able to pass a school bus unless the driver signals it is safe."
State Rep. Gary Haluska, D-Cambria, thinks the law should be changed, and said that would take about six months if the item were fast-tracked. "A school bus should not be looked at in the same light as a stop sign or red light," he said.
Witness's account
Martin Gabany, who owns a service station, said he saw his 8-year-old son getting off the school bus with two other students when Mackey passed it.
"The kids were already out the door, beginning to cross the street," Gabany said. "The cop came from behind the bus and passed it, and I would guess he was going between 40 and 50 mph."
South Fork Councilman Richard Vivian, who is on the borough's police commission, said he won't comment on the complaint against Mackey. But the former substitute bus driver said he agrees the law should be changed.
"Going through lights on a school bus is very serious," Vivian said. "I think anyone who is driving an emergency vehicle should have their wits about them when they're driving."