Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced the results of the increased school bus safety patrols that were conducted last fall by Indiana law enforcement agencies.

During the two-month mobilization, officers issued a total of 1,553 warnings and 1,701 citations. Of those, 201 were for stop-arm violations. The initiative was developed by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute in 2019 to provide safe transportation routes for Hoosier students.

In total, 2,481 additional patrols were conducted along bus stops and routes, which were identified by coordinating with local bus drivers and school transportation officials. In addition to stop-arm violations, officers cited 852 drivers for speeding, 112 for driving with a suspended license and 94 for not wearing a seat belt.

In Indiana, it’s against the law for motorists to pass a bus that’s stopped and has its red lights flashing and stop-arm extended. This applies to all roads, with one exception: On multi-lane roads divided by a physical barrier, vehicles traveling the opposite direction of the bus may proceed with due caution. SAVE patrols are scheduled to resume this spring for schools that are meeting in person. They were put on hold last March due to the pandemic.

The extra patrols were funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the state’s Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE) program.