Letters to the editor Nov. 27

Suggestions for bus stop safety

Most mornings in the local news we get an update of Jordana Hubble, the 6-year-old girl who was struck by a vehicle as she was exiting a school bus in Flathead County on Nov. 12, when a driver chose not to stop, and ran through the bus’s blinking red lights. This child is fighting for her life due to this driver’s willingness to disobey the law.

Montana state law is that all vehicles must stop at least 30 feet from either direction of a school bus that is stopped for loading or unloading children and displays flashing lights and the stop signal arm, and must not proceed until the red lights are turned off.

This is a nationwide problem. According to a Google search, more than 17,000 children are injured in accidents associated with school buses; 19 children are killed annually.

Yes, this is a nationwide problem, but I would be most of you would be surprised how often the reds are run here in Lake County. I am a school bus driver for Polson School District. This week alone I have had at least four drivers fail to stop while I was loading or unloading children. YOUR children.

There are about 24 school bus drivers in Polson. My bus carries roughly 30 kids in the morning and about 70 in the afternoon. Your child’s ride to and from school safely relies not only on my ability to drive safely and obey the laws, but also on the willingness of the other drivers to obey the law, stay alert and pay attention to the children loading, unloading and crossing the street.

Here are a few things I would like to see happen:

Much stiffer penalties.

More patrols during bus times.

More TV time showing the law and the penalties for breaking it.

I urge everyone to please pay attention, obey the laws and keep our children safe. Call and or write our congressmen. Let’s get this law more strongly enforced.

—Don Probert, Polson

Steamed about railroad lawsuit

As a former employee of the Great Northern and BNSF Railway (1956-99), I was really fuming as I read the Nov. 3 article about groups threatening to sue BNSF over bear deaths. The locomotive shown in the photo (BNSF 6363) weighs in a 425,000 pounds and is rated at 4,400 horsepower. The class of this engine is a GE Dash 9-44CW. With this in mind, a loaded coal train with 130 cars weighs in at 18,591 tons. That’s TONS, not pounds.

The two conservation groups involved in the suit need to get some things straight. It is next to impossible to stop an 18,591-ton train because a bear is on the railroad right-of-way. They have no business being there in the first place. I’m sure the engineer lays on the horn to no avail as the bears don’t seem to care and don’t move, thereby getting hit by the lead locomotive. Just maybe the groups could get all their members together to patrol the many miles of trackage to make sure the bears don’t get on the right-of-way. After all, it isn’t the responsibility of the railroad to do this. Since they seem to be so protective of the bears, let them do the protecting.

Then think about this. As a former timekeeper for engineers and conductors, I know for sure they have a livable income. If, because of this lawsuit, the BNSF has to reroute the trains (Amtrak included), the income earned by these employees would be gone. That would be a devastating blow to Montana, the employees and their families.

My final though is this. If you conservationists want the bears protected, you find ways to keep them off railroad property.

—Bob McVicker, Kalispell

Gianforte has a plan

For years Montana has suffered from a stagnant economy, while liberal democrats have used the Governor’s office to prevent job creation. Each year tax revenues goes up, but there are never any surpluses, because the liberal leadership in Helena spends it almost as fast as it comes in. We need to put an end to this in the 2020 election.

Congressman Gianforte certainly is well known for his executive experience starting and running Right Now Technologies. He knows what it takes to create a pro-business atmosphere that will help create jobs. Additionally, he has been successful because of his ability to cut inefficiencies, but also staying on budget, both things we are in desperate need of in Helena.

Greg has a plan on how he can apply these principles to our state’s government and help bring down taxes for all Montanans. It is simply impossible to tax our way to prosperity, and Montanans have worked hard for their money, and they should be able to keep more of it. With Greg as our next governor Montana will be more efficient, prosperous, and we will have a competitive economy that will bring new business and create jobs.

—Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton