Missouri drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus now face a minimum $500 fine under a new state law that recently took effect.
The tougher penalties come as classes are back in session, putting additional school buses on the roads and more students at bus stops throughout the area.
Local school officials continue to report drivers ignoring school bus stop arms. In the first three weeks of classes, the Platte County R-3 School District recorded 36 stop-arm violations, the same number reported at this point last year. Of those, 21 occurred by the end of August.
“It’s appalling, really,” said JT Thomas, the district’s director of transportation. “People are distracted, they’re in a hurry, or on the phone. I just want them to pay attention because students’ lives are at risk.”
Thomas said each of the district’s 50 buses is equipped with two exterior video cameras, one on each stop arm. Additional cameras inside the buses capture driver and student activity. The district installed a newer, more advanced video system on its bus stop arms at the beginning of the 2021 school year.
Unlike red-light cameras that capture still images, the bus cameras record video of violations, including vehicle license plates. Thomas can provide the footage to law enforcement agencies, such as the Tracy Police Department, which can then determine whether to pursue charges against the driver.
Thomas said he is pleased the district has invested in the camera technology to help protect students. He said Liberty Public Schools is the only other nearby district he is aware of that uses a similar camera system.
The penalty for illegally passing a stopped school bus increased from about $130 to between $500 and $1,000 for a first offense. A driver could also face a license suspension.
Penalties increase for repeated violations. A second offense within five years carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 and a 90-day license suspension. A third offense within five years — or any after that — comes with a $1,500 to $3,000 fine and a 180-day license suspension.
Drivers face more serious consequences if a violation results in a child being injured. A violation resulting in physical injury to a child is a class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
A violation resulting in serious physical injury is a class D felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Thomas said violations have become so frequent at certain “hot spots” across the 105-square-mile district that officials are discussing having a sheriff’s deputy ride on a school bus to watch for violations, with another deputy nearby in a patrol vehicle to respond immediately when one occurs.
Missouri law requires drivers traveling behind a school bus or approaching one from the opposite direction on a two-lane road to stop when the bus has its red lights flashing and stop arm extended.
On roads with four or more lanes, drivers going the opposite direction are not required to stop, but they should be cautious.
The legislation increasing penalties for illegally passing stopped school buses was approved by the Missouri General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe this summer.
