Bartholomew deputies cracking down on school bus law violators

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is cracking down on those who violate school bus stop arm laws.

That comes on the heels of a 16-year-old girl getting killed while trying to cross to her bus on rural Gladstone Avenue this week.

Sheriff Matt Myers says more deputies will be on the road looking for violators. This is all part of the state’s Stop Arm Violation Enforcement program, or SAVE blitz, which is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

The department joins more than 200 across the state that will be participating in this year’s SAVE blitz. Myers said deputies will have zero tolerance for those endangering children in school zones and when school buses are stopped.

In Indiana, it’s against the law for you to pass a bus that’s stopped and has its red lights flashing and stop-arm extended. That applies to all roads, except those divided by a barrier. In those cases, only drivers going the same direction as the bus must stop.

According to the safety agency, the greatest risk to a student isn’t riding a bus but approaching or leaving one, so drivers are encouraged to slow down, put away the distractions and watch for buses at all times.