New Indiana Safety Law Changes School Bus Routes

New Indiana Safety Law Changes School Bus Routes

School bus routes in Indiana will be changing to keep elementary students from crossing rural roadways on rural highways to get on or off the school bus.

  • By Kaitlyn DeHaven
  • July 22, 2019

A new Indiana law seeking to prevent children from crossing rural roadways on rural highways to get on or off the school bus will change several school bus routes this fall. Under the law, bus drivers are required to pick up or drop off elementary school students on the right-hand side of the roadway unless there are no other safe alternatives.

Jim McBee, director of business and transportation at North Montgomery School Corp., said he hopes the changes will have little impact on ride lengths.

“The majority of our routes will be impacted, some more than others, to make it all work,” McBee said.

The new routes will be available on the Powerschool system after Aug. 1.

Although school boards must approve bus routes where rural highway crossings are unavoidable, Eric Brewer, director of transportation and safety and principal of Walnut Elementary School, said that they want to do their best to eliminate the crossings.

“Our intention through and through is just to eliminate that whole possibilities,” Brewer said. “We don’t have a lot of those situations because we’ve always been conscious of [avoiding rural highway crossings] in the first place.”

The law will also harshen penalties against those who pass school buses while the “stop arm” is out. If injury isn’t involved, these penalties can range from paying a fine to the suspension of a driver’s license. If injury or death occurs, the individual will face a level six felony.

About the Author

Kaitlyn DeHaven is the Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • How Cloud Security Solutions Are Transforming Campus Safety

    Campus administrators today face a challenging mandate: deliver stronger security across their facilities while working within tighter budget constraints. From school districts focused on student safety to hospitals protecting patients and staff, the question remains the same: how do you build security infrastructure that evolves with your needs without requiring massive capital investments? Read Now

  • Rethinking Campus Security From the Inside

    For decades, campus security strategies focused on keeping threats outside school walls. But since the tragedy at Columbine High School, data has shown that many attacks begin inside the building, often in classrooms and corridors. This shift has prompted schools to rethink security from the inside and place greater emphasis on interior elements such as classroom doors. This shift is evidenced by a new generation of classroom door systems engineered to delay inside intruders and an ASTM standard that raises the bar on how these systems must be designed to defend against attack. Read Now

  • AI in Security: Advancing Campus Safety and Considerations for Implementing

    Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to capture attention across every sector, and the physical security industry is no exception. Once seen as experimental, AI-enabled analytics now underpin how organizations monitor environments, detect threats, and make decisions. What was once futuristic is now a practical necessity for safety professionals managing growing volumes of data, tighter resources, and increasing expectations for faster, more accurate responses. Read Now

  • How Cloud Security Solutions Are Transforming Campus Safety

    Campus administrators today face a challenging mandate: deliver stronger security across their facilities while working within tighter budget constraints. From school districts focused on student safety to hospitals protecting patients and staff, the question remains the same: how do you build security infrastructure that evolves with your needs without requiring massive capital investments? Read Now

Most   Popular