Brown looks to increase student safety with bipartisan bus safety bill

State Rep. Richard D. Brown (D-Canal Winchester) today introduced bipartisan legislation with Rep. Gary Scherer (R-Circleville) to deter drivers from recklessly passing school buses while they load and unload students. Each year, 17,000 students are involved in school bus-related injuries and of those, 24 percent happen while students are getting on or off the bus. In Ohio, Reynoldsburg schools have seen an uptick of incidents involving reckless drivers and stopped school busses.

“Our children are our future and their safety should be our top priority,” said Brown. “Unfortunately, getting on and off the school bus in Ohio can still be dangerous. By putting tougher standards in place, I am hopeful we can bring greater awareness to safe driving practices that keep our kids out of harm’s way.”

Under Ohio law, reckless drivers currently face a $500 fine and a class-seven suspension for passing a stopped school bus, with no increased penalty for a second offense. The bill would put Ohio on par with other Midwestern states, allowing judges to impose a $1000 fine, and/or a class-five suspension of the violator’s license for any additional offense during five years.

“This common sense bill would act as an effective deterrent to offenders,” said Scherer. “Violating this law once is bad enough, but two or more times warrants higher penalties.”