Don't forget: Stop for school buses
Feb. 20—Making sure motorists stop when schools buses stop to load and unload children is an ongoing priority for law enforcement and school systems.
The Vigo County Sheriff's Department plans to participate in upcoming bus safety patrols, just as they did in 2019 when they targeted some areas with high numbers of drivers zooming past stopped school buses.
"We patrolled Clinton Road and U.S. 40 through Seelyville, and we followed buses randomly," Detective Jim Palmer said of a fall 2019 effort that resulted in three motorist citations for disregarding stop arms.
Due to COVID-19, the sheriff's department did not participate in any organized enforcement effort during 2020, but Palmer said deputies on routine patrol are always watching for dangerous drivers around school buses.
Bus drivers for Vigo County Schools recorded 197 violations of bus stop arms in 2019-20," said schools spokesman Bill Riley. This school year, 45 incidents have been reported.
"We continue to see stop arm violations, but numbers are not as high right now as in years past because our buses have traveled less due to COVID-19," Riley said. "We've been fully remote for some periods and the A/B (attendance) schedule throughout the year at some levels has seen less bus activity."
Current "hot spots" for violations are Seventh Street, Maple Avenue and Clinton Road, he said.
The school system has done some things internally to make stop arm violations less of a safety issue.
"We have reworked our routes so there are no pickups or drop-offs on the side of oncoming/passing traffic," Riley said. "We use our stop arm cameras, where available, to record and pass on to local law enforcement when we have violations. We also verbally report when we do not have a camera installed."
Bus drivers fill out forms that are submitted to law enforcement with the help of school safety coordinator Travis Chesshir.
Gov. Eric Holcomb recently announced the results of the increased school bus safety patrols conducted last fall by Indiana law enforcement agencies. During the two-month mobilization, officers issued a total of 1,553 warnings and 1,701 citations. Of those, 201 were for stop-arm violations.
The extra patrols were funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the state's Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE) program. The initiative was developed by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute in 2019 to provide safe transportation routes for Hoosier students.
"Driving past a stopped school bus is not only illegal, it's a matter of life or death," ICJI Executive Director Devon McDonald said. "Motorists need to slow down, put away the distractions and watch for buses at all times. Lives depend on it."
In Indiana, it's against the law for motorists to pass a bus that's stopped and has its red lights flashing and stop arm extended.
This applies to all roads, with one exception. On multi-lane roads divided by a physical barrier, vehicles traveling the opposite direction of the bus may proceed with caution.
SAVE patrols are scheduled to resume this spring for schools that are in session.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter at @TribStarLisa.
