Grimes County is cracking down on drivers that don’t yield to school buses. County officials say it has been an on-going problem and Texas Department of Public Safety Sargent Jimmy Morgan says their work with school districts goes year round.
“Each school year, our agency tries to work closely with all ISD’s around the state. Obviously, they have school bus safety week, where they show more emphasis on it, even having troopers on the school bus,” Morgan said.
Recent headlines have shown the dangers to children when drivers aren’t paying attention near buses and bus stops. School bus drivers in Anderson say they’ve seen issues frequently on their routes.
Grimes County law enforcement agencies are working on ways to crack down on drivers who don’t stop for school buses with their red lights on. Sargent Morgan says that a lot of the issues they see are people not knowing when to stop or when not to stop.
“Confusion comes in when you have a divided highway,” Morgan said. “If that highway is only divided by a left turn lane, thne all those lanes of traffic have to stop. Only when it is divided by grass or some sort of concrete barrier is when the opposite side of the roadway is not required to stop.”
The County’s district attorney Andria Bender has said there is a “no tolerance” policy, meaning no warnings will be issued. Violators can face a minimum $500-$1200 fine and possible jail time.
