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New Law Hopes To Prevent Bus Stop Accidents

The new law expands counties capabilities to punish people who illegally pass a stopped school bus. Keri Brown/WFDD

A new law is aimed at getting North Carolina drivers to think twice before passing a stopped school bus. Gov. Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 55 into law on Tuesday. The measure expands local enforcement of bus stop safety.

Drivers already have to stop on both sides of the road when a school bus is stopped. Some school districts have installed cameras on their buses to help capture incidents of illegal passing.

Under the new measure, counties can now take those video images a step further. Kevin Harrison with the State Department of Instruction says even the owner of the vehicle could face fines.

“This law provides another tool to counties who chose to enact it. It allows them to access a civil penalty to the owner of the vehicle for illegally passing a stopped school bus when you can't positively identify who was driving the vehicle.”

The penalty can be steep. It starts at $400 dollars for a first offense, $750 for the second offense, and $1,000 for each violation after that.

A recent study from the NCDPI says there are more than 3,000 illegal passings each day during the school year.

Harrison says 14 students have died in North Carolina since the late 90s because drivers didn't stop. That number includes the death of a 16-year-old boy from Onslow County who was killed in March.

The NCDPI says its also plans to work with schools and students during the school year to remind them of bus stop safety.

“Kids also need to look both ways when they are getting on or off a bus,” says Harrison. “We need to drill that message with students at home, at school and with our bus drivers. It's something we are looking at in several ways.”

He says the state is also piloting studies that add more lighting and extended stop arms to buses.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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