Full Notification

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office along with the Hamilton Heights School Corporation are partnering with the Hamilton County Traffic Safety Partnership to promote school safety through increased education and enforcement of school bus stop arms. The Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE) grant promotes a coordinated effort to improve compliance with school bus stop arms. The program is designed to encourage collaboration between law enforcement, school corporations, and school bus operators. Funded through a grant provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, deputies will work extra patrols following local school buses to ensure drivers comply with traffic laws around school buses and in school zones.

About 230 Indiana police agencies receive federal grants for highly visible traffic enforcement including speeding, aggressive driving and school bus stop-arm violations. The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is awarding approximately $380,000 to 39 agencies for overtime school-bus stop enforcement over the next two months. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office received $5,000 earmarked directly for school bus safety and also has funds available through the Traffic Safety Partnership to provide extra enforcement throughout the year.

Deputies will be following school buses through their morning and afternoon routes, working in close coordination with bus drivers and school officials. Upon arrival at schools, deputies may then work on increasing compliance with school speed zones and other safety issues in and around schools.

As a reminder to the public, if a school bus stops on a two-lane road and the red flashing lights are activated and the stop arm is extended, all motorists are required to stop. When a school bus stops on a multi-lane roadway without a barrier and the red flashing lights are activated and the stop arm is extended, all motorists must stop. For a multi-lane road with either a grassy median or a raised concrete barrier, only vehicles behind the bus must stop when a school bus stops and the red flashing lights are activated and the stop arm is extended. Vehicles that are approaching from the opposite side (across the median) are not required to stop. Further information is available at https://www.in.gov/indot/3657.htm.

Recent changes in state law show drivers who illegally pass a stopped school bus can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. If that action injures someone, the offense rises to a Level 6 felony, punishable by six months to two-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Recklessly passing a stopped bus and killing someone is a Level 5 felony, carrying a one- to six-year prison sentence and up to $10,000 in fines. State legislators also gave courts the ability to suspend driving privileges for someone who violates the stop-arm law. Driving privileges can be suspended for 90 days or for up to one year for repeat offenders.