Dear Editor,

Recently on a Sunday news summary I was amazed at the number of school bus fatalities that occur in a year. At least 70,000 children were injured and/or killed by motorists trying to beat the red flashing lights that a school bus exhibits while children are departing the bus.Unless you forgot, it is against the law to pass a school bus while the red lights are flashing. As children leave the bus after a long day at school, the furthest thing from their mind is a motorist talking on a cellphone or speeding to get to the supermarket or getting to the job for fear of being late.Before the school bus begins to stop, yellow lights are flashed, giving notice that it intends to stop. That is your signal to slow down and prepare to stop. Not speed up to pass the bus. After the yellow lights, red lights flash, giving notice to the drivers that children will be leaving the bus and crossing the road.Again, that is not a signal to speed up to get around the school bus. The children exiting the bus are your children, grandchildren and relatives. They want to be at home as much as you do. Just think if the fatality was your child.Obey the law and don't pass a school bus when the yellow or red lights are flashing. The child's life you save could be yours!From the pen ofKen TregerLehighton