Palos Park Police Cracking Down On Drivers Who Pass School Buses

PALOS PARK, IL — With most Palos schools returning to school the week of Aug. 19, Palos Park police are reminding drivers to be aware of the return of school buses stopped on the sides of streets and surface roads. Anyone caught speeding past a stopped school bus or rolling by one before the bus moves will be tickets. Offending drivers face a three-month license suspension if convicted, plus having to hire an attorney.

Palos Park police will again offer the option to local schools to have an officer riding on problem routes where motorists are not stopping for school buses when students are boarding and de-boarding. Police are warning drivers that officers could be riding on buses to witness violators and radioing ahead to patrol cars.

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Officers will be patrolling the streets and roads in the mornings and afternoons, strictly enforcing Illinois’s school bus traffic laws. Any driver caught whizzing past a stopped school bus will be ticketed. Not only will officers be enforcing school bus laws from patrol cars, they may also be riding on buses watching for traffic violators -- so don’t take a chance.

Here's what the law in Illinois requires:

You must stop before meeting or overtaking a school bus loading or unloading passengers on a two-lane roadway. You must remain stopped until the stop signal arm is no longer extended and the flashing lights are turned off or the driver signals you to pass. You do not always need to stop when meeting a stopped school bus on a roadway with four or more lanes or if you are traveling in the opposite direction of the bus, but you should drive cautiously.