Police are reminding Connecticut drivers that you should be treating the stop sign you see on the school bus the same way you treat a stop sign in your neighborhood.
Police are reminding Connecticut drivers that you should be treating the stop sign you see on the school bus the same way you treat a stop sign in your neighborhood.
We spoke to people in North Haven who say it scares them to see more and more reports of drivers running through school buses' stop signs.
"If that was your child, you wouldn't want that happening,” Toni Martone, a North Haven parent, said. “I hope that they understand that it's a little kid, and if you hit someone, you have to deal with the law.”
"I saw two times this week that they go right by the school buses,” Nick Grillo, of North Haven, said. “They don't stop, they just keep going like it’s a racetrack."
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Connecticut law says it’s a $475 fine for your first offense of passing a bus, and repeat violations could result in arrest.
The North Haven Police Department shared a reminder on Thursday, but it’s a problem all throughout the state.
The Norwalk Police Department posted a reminder, too, as well as a video, where you can see a car blow through a bus stop sign.
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The Waterbury Police Department said they've issued 97 infractions since the start of this school year, where people have illegally passed a bus.
In Bridgeport, over 10,000 citations have been issued for school bus passing from the start of this school year until February.
"I think the majority is inattentive driving, and everybody seems like they're always in a rush. People are speeding. They're not realizing it. They're not paying attention what's going on in front of them,” Lt. Joel Lenda, of Groton Town Police Department, said.
In Groton, Lenda said parents and bus drivers alike make reports in waves throughout the school year.
He said if police have the license plate, which school bus cameras help with, they can track down the driver in question.
A common error Lenda said he sees drivers make is not thinking the stop sign applies to them in a multiple lane road.
"Your typical two-lane, four-lane road with a double yellow down the middle, everybody in every direction is required to stop,” Lenda said.
A 2024 law allowed school buses to install cameras, with police retroactively able to review the footage. North Haven said they're exploring automated enforcement.
