What are the fines for disregarding a school bus stop sign?

By Kirk Mason (mason@wsbt.com)

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Sep 2, 2009 at 2:44 PM EST

Story Updated: Sep 2, 2009 at 2:51 PM EST

Students in Michigan have about six more days left of summer vacation. Most students go back to school on Tuesday. But in Indiana, school buses have been back out on roads for at least a couple weeks now.

Buffy Gerndt of South Bend has a Good Question: “I see this happen every day. I would like to know what the fines are for disregarding a school bus stop signal.”

WSBT's Kirk Mason looked into it.

When a school bus is stopped and the stop sign is out you are not supposed to pass — it's against the law. We did some checking and the fines are actually not as high as you might think.

In Indiana there is a set court fee for an offense and then each individual county sets a fine on top of that.

In St. Joseph County the offense will cost you $124.50; in Elkhart County it is $139.50.

For a little perspective, the fine for speeding in a construction zone in Illinois can exceed $500.

But passing a school bus will actually cost you more much more in another way. In Indiana it's eight points on your driver’s license — the same number of points you get for a DUI — and that means your insurance rate likely would go way up.

In Michigan, the penalty is not nearly as harsh point-wise — illegally passing a stopped school bus is three points on your driver's license.

But the fines can be more costly. For example in Berrien County the fine is $240.

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