Police patrols along school bus routes in St. Lawrence County will increase on Operation Safe Stop education and enforcement day, March 30.

The county Traffic Safety Program has joined with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, New York Association for Pupil Transportation, and other state and local agencies to promote Operation Safe Stop.

Police officers will dedicate patrols along bus routes that have had problems with illegal passing. Police will be looking for drivers failing to stop for a school bus with its red lights flashing.

The Traffic Safety Program reminds drivers it is illegal -- and very dangerous -- to pass a stopped school bus when the large red lights on top of the bus are flashing. Flashing lights mean the bus is picking up or discharging students. Bus drivers are required to leave their red lights on until the passenger is 15 feet away from the bus and/or roadway. The law says a driver must stop whether approaching the school bus from the front or overtaking it from the rear. This is true even on multi-lane highways, in parking lots, and on school grounds. The only exception to this law is if the bus driver or a police officer signals that you may pass the bus.

The first-time penalty for illegally passing a school bus is a $250 to $400 fine, five penalty points on your license, and possibly 30 days in jail. Penalties increase for subsequent violations of the law. Even worse, the memory of hitting or killing a child may be one you carry for the rest of your life.