Full Notification

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 1, 2014

Southern Pines Police Department
Announces:
“Safe October” Traffic Enforcement Initiative

The Southern Pines Police Department announces the traffic enforcement initiative “Safe October” will begin October 1, 2014 and run through October 31, 2014. This initiative will specifically focus on drivers passing stopped school buses.

Source: North Carolina General Statute 20-217- Motor vehicles to stop for properly marked and designated school buses in certain instances. (Partial excerpt below)

(a) When a school bus is displaying its mechanical stop signal or flashing red lights and the bus is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, the driver of any other vehicle that approaches the school bus from any direction on the same street, highway, or public vehicular area shall bring that other vehicle to a full stop and shall remain stopped. The driver of the other vehicle shall not proceed to move, pass, or attempt to pass the school bus until after the mechanical stop signal has been withdrawn, the flashing red stoplights have been turned off, and the bus has started to move.

(b) For the purpose of this section, a school bus includes a public school bus transporting children or school personnel, a public school bus transporting senior citizens under G.S. 115C-243, or a privately owned bus transporting children. This section applies only in the event the school bus bears upon the front and rear a plainly visible sign containing the words "school bus."

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the driver of a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction from the school bus, upon any road, highway or city street that has been divided into two roadways, so constructed as to separate vehicular traffic between the two roadways by an intervening space (including a center lane for left turns if the roadway consists of at least four more lanes) or by a physical barrier, need not stop upon meeting and passing any school bus that has stopped in the roadway across the dividing space or physical barrier.

(d) It shall be unlawful for any school bus driver to stop and receive or discharge passengers or for any principal or superintendent of any school, routing a school bus, to authorize the driver of any school bus to stop and receive or discharge passengers upon any roadway described by subsection (c) of this section where passengers would be required to cross the roadway to reach their destination or to board the bus; provided, that passengers may be discharged or received at points where pedestrians and vehicular traffic are controlled by adequate stop-and-go traffic signals.

Any driver convicted of this offense will face 5 points assessed against their driver’s license and can be ordered to pay a minimum fine of $500.00.

According to recent data, in 2014 there were 3,153 school buses illegally passed, nearly 70% of the time being passed from the front-opposite direction. The Southern Pines Police Department will take this opportunity not only to enforce violations for passing stopped school buses, but we will also provide educational information for Texting While Driving to students at Pinecrest High School on October 9th and the O'Neal School on October 20th.

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Contact: Deputy Chief Nick Polidori
(910) 692-2732x 2864