School Has Started and So Have School Zone Violations!

While perusing Facebook today, I saw that KISS FM had posted this article on the area of interest of EPPD this month. It listed some of the charges and fines that come with school zones and briefly mentioned the offense of overtaking a bus. This is the violation I want to talk about.

Basically, this is when you pass a school bus that has stopped and has flashing lights or one of those stop signs sticking out the side of it. Do you know that all traffic is supposed to stop at that point? Kids are like squirrels that dart out of these secret crevices, and into traffic. Stopping is so that you don’t squish the squirrel. I’ve heard that school busses may soon put cameras on the sides of the bus to catch the license plates of those people who fly past them without stopping…that’s how bad the problem has become!

Notwithstanding the whole, we-don’t-want-to-squish-running-kids-because-that-would-really-suck aspect to this law, the fine if you violate this one is pretty hefty. It can be upwards of $500! Many justice of the peace judges, although they continue to allow defensive driving to be taken for this offense, really get peeved at this citation. And remember, especially if you’ve already taken defensive driving before that year, it’s ALWAYS to the discretion of the judge on whether he/she will let you take defensive driving again. This ticket can be pretty hard for us to fight, especially if our client has had several of these school zone violations.

So, what’s the moral of the story? Be safe out there—especially since school just started up. Slow down around school zones and busses because the cops are watching you, but they’re also watching out for your little ones!