LaPorte Police cracking down on drivers who ignore school bus stop arms

The LaPorte Police Department is one of many now cracking down on drivers who disregard extended school bus arms.

Beginning Monday, Nov. 5, extra patrols will be dedicated to watching for drivers who violate state law.

Police Chief Tom Owens says despite previous efforts to police the problem, they still receive numerous complaints about motorists passing school buses with the stop arm activated.

He adds the city has a zero tolerance and everyone who isn’t compliant will be stopped and ticketed.

The most recent annual survey on illegal passing of school buses complied by Transportation Services showed that 3,077 stop arm violations were reported by Hoosier school bus drivers state-wide in a single day on April 24, 2018.

That’s an average of roughly 33 violations in each county, every day.