Drivers Passing Stopped School Buses To Get Big Fines [VIDEO]

KPLC did a recent story on area drivers ignoring Louisiana laws regarding school buses.  Do you stop or go around a school bus when it's picking-up or dropping off children.  Hopefully you stop.  If not, you may want to think again the next time.  For starters the fines are pretty steep, rangeing from $100 to $5,000.  Believe it or not, you could even face some jail time.  Not to mention hit or kill a child crossing the street.

As of late, drivers in the area have been going around stopped school buses or if approaching from the opposite side of the road, failing to stop at all.  FYI, this is against the law and is a stop arm violation.  KPLC reports the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services the school bus laws very from state to state.

In Louisiana it's against the law to pass stopped buses, unless there's a median or shared turning lane separating the traffic.  The actual law reads:

You must stop at least thirty feet from a stopped school bus that is loading or unloading children. This is required by law whether you are meeting the bus or traveling behind it. You do not have to stop when the bus is stopped in a loading zone completely off the roadway and where the pedestrians are not allowed to cross the roadway. When a school bus is stopped in opposite lanes on a roadway separated by a ditch, grassy median, elevated concrete barrier or any obstacle that prevents traffic from driving thereon, you are not required to stop. Drivers must stop for a stopped school bus when traveling on four lane or five lane roadways which are not separated by any barriers. When you have stopped, you must not proceed until the bus moves again or the visual warning signals are no longer in use.

Yet, bus drivers say some drivers blow past them all the time.  KPLCwanted to see it for themselves and did a few 30 minute, ride alongs.  Check out the video below and find out how it went.

KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Word to the wise slow down, pay attention and whether your behind or on the opposite side of the road, STOP when a school bus is stopped.  A lot of times children getting off a bus assume they are safe and cross the road without looking. Please abide by the stop arm school bus laws and lets keep our children safe.