YORK, Pa. — Responding to complaints from school bus drivers, the York City Police Department and the Center for Traffic Safety launched the next wave of their aggressive driving program.
To keep children safe at the bus stop, York City police now follow several buses along their routes to crack down on aggressive driving.
It’s part of the school bus and pedestrian safety initiative.
“[The] aggressive driving wave is a statewide campaign that runs from March 20th to April 23.," said Jeff Bowman, a Region 2 Officer with the Highway Safety Network.
School bus drivers complained about drivers disregarding the school bus safety laws in York.
John Reisenweber, an officer for York City Police Department said, “I’ve seen a lot more violations of this law than I thought I was going to.”
Bowman says incidents of aggressive drivers weren’t reported in the past as regularly as they are now.
“You just don’t see a lot of these violations, you just don’t witness it a lot, I was in patrol for eighteen years [and] I never saw a person running a school bus red light,” says Bowman.
Officials say one of the greatest challenges is educating drivers about the law.
“The details are in enforcement and in education, this is proactive education and getting the word out,” says Reisenweber.
Breaking the school bus safety law is costly: A 60-day license suspension, five points on a driving license, and a 250-dollar fine.
Reisenweber also says parents need to teach their children to be more aware of their surroundings in case of an aggressive driver.
“Don’t take for granted the fact that a school bus is there with a stop sign out, that everybody is going to pay attention to that and everybody is going to stop,” he told FOX43.
Officials also said that the program will likely continue into next school year with a third wave launching in August 2023.
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