TOLEDO, Ohio —
The laws for drivers regarding school bus safety are simple: if a school bus is stopped on a road with fewer than four lanes to drop off or pick up students, traffic on both sides of the street has to come to a complete halt.
There aren't any rules or regulations for what drivers must do around stopped paratransit vans and buses, though.
Alfonso Narvaez, who leads the community group North Toledo Coalition, says this is an issue.
"It goes back to protecting those who can't protect themselves," he said.
Narvaez said he developed his own measure when he learned about this lack of a law.
"I have a family member who gets on a paratransit bus every single day and what kind of sparked my attention that there are drivers that are just not stopping or are not being courteous to the driver and the passengers," Narvaez said.
In a letter to Toledo City Council, he proposed a measure that would treat paratransit vehicles like school buses, requiring surrounding traffic to come to a stop when riders are getting on and off the bus.
He says outfitting existing paratransit vehicles with stop signs like school buses might be out of budget, but he's open to anything that would keep his family safe.
"Unfortunately, if a vehicle clips him or rear-ends the vehicle, there are just so many things that can happen. I don't want to think about it," Narvaez said. "Even a sticker or something to let people know, 'hey, slow down, stop.'"
His call for action isn't going unnoticed.
"The idea that those with different abilities also need to be protected and safe on our streets, particularly when they're getting on and off their transportation modes, makes a lot of sense," said at-large city council member Mac Driscoll.
Driscoll believes Narvaez's proposal also falls in line with Toledo's Vision Zero initiative to create safer roads for drivers and pedestrians.
"We need our streets to be safer, but much like any issue, this affects the most disadvantaged communities disproportionately," Driscoll said.
Narvaez is meeting with council members Driscoll and Nick Komives, also at-large, in the coming weeks to discuss the measure further.
Driscoll said council has already started researching similar initiatives across the country and reaching out to community partners to explore next steps.