ELLINWOOD - Monday morning, Ellinwood Police Chief Art Keffer posted on the department’s facebook page that numerous complaints since the beginning of the school year had been received concerning drivers passing stopped school buses while their red lights and stop signs were activated.
“Unfortunately some drivers are either not fully aware of the Kansas traffic laws pertaining to overtaking and passing school buses or are unaware of the traffic law,” he wrote, and provided the Kansas Ordinance 8-1556 pertaining to overtaking and passing school buses:
Overtaking and passing school bus; actuation of visual signals by driver of bus, when; required school bus markings. (a) The driver of a vehicle meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus stopped on the roadway shall stop before reaching such school bus when there is in operation on the school bus the flashing red lights specified in subsection (a) of K.S.A. 8-1730, and amendments thereto, and the driver shall not proceed until such school bus resumes motion or the flashing red lights and the stop signal arm are no longer actuated.
According to the 2012 Kansas Statutes Uniform Act Regulating Traffic, improper passing of a school bus carries a potential fine of $315 plus applicable court costs and fees.
The friendly warning by Keffer included his hope that the public would be mindful of children walking to and from school.