A USPS vehicle. (Provided photo — Dave Werner)

Passing a stopped school bus is one of the most flagrant traffic violations there is. Obviously, it has the potential to seriously injure or even kill our most precious people — our children — and I don’t know of anyone that wants to hurt our youth.

However, on Nov. 13 at 2:37 p.m., what could have been a serious incident was narrowly avoided by an alert bus driver for Saranac Lake Central School. The bus driver had apparently stopped to let two students off the bus when a USPS vehicle, like the one pictured with this column, passed the stopped bus on the right side.

The bus driver held the students in the bus and let them off safely after the postal vehicle had driven on. A video of the incident showed the two students exiting the bus several seconds after the postal vehicle had passed.

According to New York State Police in Ray Brook, the bus driver made a complaint regarding the incident. State Police found the operator of the post office vehicle and ticketed him with failure to stop for school bus (VTL section 1174a), which includes a fine of $250 to $400 plus applicable surcharges and up to 30 days in jail for a first offense. It also includes five points against the driver’s license.

All drivers need to be aware of stopped school buses and obey the “no passing a stopped school bus when lights are flashing” law. Incredible as it might seem, the New York Association for Pupil Transportation estimates that 50,000 motor vehicles illegally pass a stopped school bus in New York state every school day. And that’s just in this state.

New York state law states that drivers in either direction must stop at least 20 feet from a stopped school bus.

Parents who drive students to school should be aware that it is also illegal to pass a stopped school bus with red lights flashing on school property, not just on streets and roads.

Be alert. No one wants to injure or kill a child.