As students head back to school today, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office is asking drivers to brush up on their school bus safety rules before they have a brush with the law.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said his office often sees an uptick in bus accidents near the start of the school year, particularly with drivers illegally passing stopped school buses.
“We have a problem with people not stopping and going around the buses (instead),” Hawkins told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “We’re trying to discourage that because it’s a dangerous situation for the kids who are getting off the bus and crossing the street, and we don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
To help curb that trend, Hawkins said a school resource officer will be joining bus routes this afternoon to keep an eye out for drivers who pass stopped buses and report them to deputies. Any driver seen passing a bus illegally runs the risk of being ticketed.
He said the same process will be repeated periodically throughout the year.
“When we have a driver that reports a problem area, where frequently people don’t stop, we’re going to be out there monitoring that, making sure that we can hold them accountable,” he said. “We’re not here trying to just pick on the public. We’re just trying to bring it to their awareness.”
All Lowndes County School District buses are equipped with yellow lights that flash as a warning that the bus is about to stop, Hawkins said in a Wednesday press release. It’s still legal to pass a bus when the yellow lights are flashing, but once the bus stops, red lights will flash and a stop sign will deploy. At that point, passing is illegal.
On roads with a median, Hawkins said only vehicles approaching from behind the bus are required to stop.
Students are also required to follow rules when exiting buses. Superintendent Sam Allison said students aren’t allowed to exit until traffic has come to a complete stop. Additionally, students are instructed not to cross the road until they receive a signal from the driver, he said.
“This is the law. These rules exist for one reason: the safety of our children,” Allison wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “We hope that bringing more attention to bus safety – and the serious consequences of not stopping for school buses – will make drivers more aware and help ensure a safer experience for all students.”
In 2011, the state legislature created higher penalties for drivers who disregard bus safety rules in Nathan’s Law, named for a 5-year-old boy who was killed by a driver illegally passing a stopped school bus.
Under Nathan’s Law, drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus are guilty of a misdemeanor and can be fined anywhere from $350 to $750 for the first offense. Subsequent offenses committed within five years can warrant fines ranging from $750 to $1,500. If a child dies or is injured due to a driver illegally passing a stopped bus, the charge is raised to a felony.
“The law will be enforced, and we will be writing citations for it,” Hawkins said. “We want the public to know that.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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