Police in an Indiana town are riding school buses to more easily identify distracted drivers, reports the Seymour Tribune.
Encouraged by the “successful” results of a test run in July, Seymour police again took to the streets last Thursday as passengers in some of Seymour Community School’s 46 buses. They issued numerous citations for seat belt violations, as well as several for texting violations. It is hoped that this will also help reduce the number of motorists who illegally pass a school bus.
“When motorists see a marked police car now, they put down their cellphones or grab their seat belts and try to put them on. Nobody thinks anything about a school bus,” explained Capt. Carl Lamb of the Seymour Police Department.
Once officers aboard a school bus observe a motorist breaking the law, they radio another officer who is following in a squad car to pull the offender over and issue the ticket.
The height of school buses, their tinted windows and their innocuous nature are all advantages of placing officers there to watch for lawbreakers.
Lamb noted the children are also calmer due to the presence of a police officer on the bus, which results in less distraction for the driver.
Officers involved in this project are being paid overtime with federal funds from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, Lamb said.
