(Undated)– With area schools going back into session comes a reminder for motorists to take some extra precautions, especially when meeting or following school buses. Kevin Krull, a Public Resource Officer with the Iowa State Patrol Post 6 Office in Spencer, says it can mean the difference between life and death for kids getting on and off the bus…
“We had a numerous amount of school bus stop arm violations in the Lakes Area last year, and people just need to be aware that they, when they see those yellow flashing amber lights come on, they need to slow down and not pass that school bus. Once you’re coming, approaching it, you can, you’ve got to slow down. And then when the red lights come on and the stop arm comes out you have to stop, stop 15 back so that way it gives you good vision all the way around. But the number one thing is is people need to be aware that they’re going to be out there and understand that they need to stop for that stop arm.”
He says violators should be prepared for the consequences…
“I don’t have the exact numbers but I know you can lose your driver’s license. In order to keep your driver’s license you have to go to a driver’s improvement school, otherwise you’ll lose your driver’s license for 30 days. And each time you violate this law the penalties go up and it’s not a couple hundred dollars, it’s several hundred dollars for the actual monetary. And then the real kicker is that most of the insurance companies will move you to a high risk insurance with a violation conviction.”
Krull adds most school buses are now equipped with cameras making it much easier to catch and identify offenders…
“And driver’s do a really good job when identifying when these violations occur by documenting video proof. It’s hard to dispute. They’ll get the video photo, they’ll call the local officers or the State Patrol and we come out. We get the photo of that, we download that, go investigate it, and find the driver of the vehicle at that time and issue the violation to them and then they have to go to court to avoid getting convictions, but it’s hard to disprove that.”
Krull also reminds motorists to also use extra caution in school crossing zones.
