Hundreds of thousands of dollars are heading to law enforcement agencies across the state for increased school bus stop safety.
The Holcomb administration announced the disbursements Monday.
More than $380,000 will go to 39 different police agencies across the state. The money will be used for overtime, to help step up traffic enforcement at school bus stops as the new school year begins.
The federal grants are meant to support highly visible traffic enforcement that includes speeding, aggressive driving and school bus stop-arm violations. And those citations now come with harsher penalties after new legislation took effect last month.
The 2019 school bus safety bill raises the penalty for illegally passing a school bus with its stop arm out from a Class B to a Class A misdemeanor. That means potential fines of up to $5,000 and a year in jail. Judges can also now suspend the driver’s license for 90 days or one year, for multiple offenses.
