JCPD NEWS RELEASE
School Bus Stop Checks | DATE: | 01/15/19 | TIME: | 1000 | |
PREPARED BY: | Sgt. Reggie Sparks | APPROVED BY: | Chief Karl Turner | ||
Officers of the Johnson City Police Department in partnership with Johnson City Transit will be conducting bus stop checks throughout the remainder of the school year. In an attempt to keep our school-aged children safe when boarding and de-boarding school buses, officers will be riding buses and advising other officers nearby when a driver is observed ignoring a school bus stop sign.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1,313 people of all ages were killed in school transportation-related crashes between 2006 and 2015. Of those, 301 were school-age children, 54 were occupants of school transportation vehicles, 137 were occupants of other vehicles, 102 were pedestrians, and eight were pedal cyclists.
“Failing to stop when approaching a stopped school bus is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of between $250 and $1,000,” said Johnson City Police Sgt. Reggie Sparks. “We take these violations very seriously, as they jeopardize the safety of our children as well as the motoring public and pedestrians.”Bus routes where frequent violations are noted will be prioritized for officer ride-alongs.
“The Johnson City Police Department is asking drivers to be alert and allow our children to arrive to and from school safely,” said Sgt. Sparks.
Tennessee Law 55-8-151: The driver of a vehicle upon a highway, upon meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus that has stopped on the highway for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children, shall stop the vehicle before reaching the school bus, and the driver shall not proceed until the school bus resumes motion or is signaled by the school bus driver to proceed or the visual signals are no longer actuated. The driver of a vehicle upon a highway with separate roadways need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus that is on a different roadway or when upon a controlled-access highway and the school bus is stopped in a loading zone that is a part of or adjacent to the highway and where pedestrians are not permitted to cross the roadway. For the purpose of this subsection (a), "separate roadways" means roadways divided by an intervening space that is not suitable to vehicular traffic.